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A WAY TO 
PEACE, HEALTH, AND POWER 





A’ WAY TO 
PEACE, HEALTH, AND POWER 


STUDIES FOR THE INNER LIFE 


BY vy 


BERTHA CONDE 


AUTHOR OF ‘‘THE HUMAN ELEMENT IN THE MAKING OF A CHRISTIAN,”’ BTC. 


NEW YORK 
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 
1925 


Copyricnt, 1925, spy 
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 


Printed in the United States of America 





The extracts from the Revised Version of the Bible contained in this volume 
are printed by permission of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but all 
editorial responsibility rests with the author of the present volume, 


TO 
Move He 
WITH WHOM SIGHT IS INSIGHT 


Ret ta 
De bah ate Vig 
One PiAe | 

> Te det ine 


Ps ea 
Ny Kin 4 a NA Y, oy 
us ; é ity 


®Y } 
Wh 


heh 
Poe 


dy 


¥ ae 


ALE Oa 
Pavan iy (eoie 





CONTENTS 


PAGE 
THe ConNECTING CURRENT OF Lire BETWEEN THE 


HuMAN SPIRIT AND GoD 


ly “How Wa Know reer, Br Senin FAN 1 
2. How We Sreencroen rr ie ee fee. 5 
3. How We MAKE THE CONNECTION ...... 8 
4:2 HOW: TO POUL AT TOL USE Oo he a 12 


THE PERVADING PRESENCE OF A PERSONAL Gop 


5. AN Ourt-SHInING PRESENCE IN His WorLD .. 16 
6. AN OuT-SHINING PRESENCE IN JESUS ..... 20 
7. AN Ovt-SHINING PRESENCE WITHIN Us... . 24 
8. AN OvutT-SHINING PRESENCE IN OTHERS ... . 28 


THe Woritp WitTuin Us 


9. Tue CREATIVE PowER or THOUGHT ....., 32 
10. Tue Sprriruat Uses OF THE IMAGINATION. . . 37 
11) (RECOLLECTED STRENGTH) wiih 2c bse Gotbe oe 4] 
12. THe EpucaTION oF A CONSCIENCE ...... 46 


Tue BATTLEGROUND OF PRAYER 


13. Jesus’ TeacHInc ABoUT PRAYER ....... 51 
14. OvERCOMING THE Eartuty NATURE. ..... 56 
15. THe Cross aNnD HuMAN EXPERIENCE ..... 61 
IGo TE RAYER AND ORULEP sa uae ea) ene al iarra tte 66 


vii 


vill 


CONTENTS 


THe IRRESISTIBLE LAw or Lovn 


THe CREATIVE ENERGY OF LOVE ....... 
TRUE AND FATS | LOW nce Nerina craven ens 
‘THe: COURAGE OF EOVEN fie ee nae uae 


FINDING Our Way IN LIFE 


21. 
22. 
Dass 
24. Tuer LIBRARY FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE SPIRIT. 


INEVITABLE LIMITATIONS? voce coy ako 6. 
MAKING  DBCISIONS (eee ee koe ee ee 
EXPERIENCES ALONG THE RoAD ....... 


HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL LAws 


THRVRiGHT TO) BE "WELLE Oo ere ree 1 
Toe HumMAN ELEMENT IN ILL-HEALTH 4 
THEE WAY CO EBACE Pee Bar eas H 


Gop’s WAyYs OF WORKING 


29. 
30. 
dl. 
32. 


PHEGAW ORCL ALTPE ia Nee niet rte ne ad tS 3 


HATE AS AO WAY) OF CLIBS 0, ihe tore ee ae aihe 
FAITH IN THE REALM OF THE IMPOSSIBLE... 
Tue LimtraTions OF FAITH ...... toh 6: 


Tue CRYSTALLINE LENS OF THE SOUL 


33. 
34. 
30. 
36. 


THE SPIRIT, OF PURITY oye antes tee iis 
THE SPIRIT OF THANKFULNESS ........ 
TRE SPIRIT OFM MERROW). t os a eee eel be enon 
‘LHE. SPIRIT OF SL RUTH Goalie slentn hms uk re eats tiae 


PAGE 


70 
75 
73 
83 


87 
92 
97 
102 


112 
117 


CONTENTS 


AVAILABLE RESOURCES OF POWER 
37. REWARDS FOR THE FRIENDLY HEART ..... 
38. SUBLIMATING OuR INSTINCTS ...... Sun ste 
BY.) REINFORCING) THE | WIDTH) 2) ciel wie no cenienem suse 
40 NO RESTORED GY WARS Wu) os) /uanver eo aw ore hel Mateeh 


Tue Girts oF UNANSWERED PRAYER 
41. Tue Situation INVOLVED IN Gop’s SILENCE . . 
42. Tue CHARACTER OF THE PRAYER ......-. 
43. Tue Necessities oF Gop’s PLANS ...... 
44, Tuer Reau Girts or UNANSWERED PRAYER. . 


Tue ReaAuity oF SEEMING UNREALITY 


45. DIscovERING A WORLD ..... hi OPERA 8 a 
46. Tue TRANSFIGURATION OF LIFE .....2.6-. 
472. Tap LAW OF THE HARVEST es OOS A wrk 


48, Tue PrersonaL ELEMENT IN Everypay Lire . 


THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES 
49. Our Secrets or VicToRY...... 
50. Our Day AND GENERATION ....... 
BIS SOUR -ONR WATS OF DHIRCAPD (cr Un ina) aia eye 
525). OuR: CONFIDENT: “LORI 0), (Sie. singe al ose te 


ix 
PAGE 


163 
168 
173 
178 


182 
187 
191 
195 


199 
204 
209 
213 


217 
221 
226 


_ 230 


ri 


ie 


oy 


: ak 
yy Rue vt Ne 


pa 
ae ERY 


4 


Aeye 





FOREWORD 


Psycnouoey is the pet academic word today. People have waked 
up to the truth that the human mind has unsuspected powers for the 
conquest of limitations. Everybody has something he wants to escape; 
hence this eager rush to find some formula for omnipotence. Those 
who have the leisure and privilege of higher education are so engrossed 
in studying the possibilities of the mind; and are so enamoured of 
their technical vocabulary, that they are usually inaccessible to the 
average person who insists on having what he wants now. As a result, 
a legion of commercial enterprises has sprung up to supply the popular 
demand. They have seized upon the cravings of people for health, 
money, prosperity, and peace of mind and have promised all these 
things to those who would enroll in their classes and learn ‘‘the tricks 
of mental power.” 

Even more serious than this, are the religious problems which have 
been raised. People do not know how to fit these new thoughts to what 
they have been taught by the Church. They are wondering what 
relation psychology has to the teachings of Christianity. They need 
new reasons for confidence in the philosophy and the inevitable 
triumph of Jesus Christ. 

This book is not a mental “patent medicine” for all the ills of 
humanity. If anyone is expecting to get the usually promised “instant 
relief’”’ he desires, it will be useless to read these pages. The evil of a 
patent medicine lies in the fact that people buy it because of certain 
symptoms rather than causes. Symptoms are acute warnings of 
hidden causes. These must first be searched out before the symptoms 
will disappear. The writer claims no resources of wisdom beyond 
that of the ordinary Christian. She believes that the life of Jesus 
discloses certain laws and principles by which every one of us may 
sense a vital connection with God, and be able to draw on His infinite 
power for the task of living. When spirit, mind, and body are alike 
controlled by God, unusual experiences are likely to occur. Bodily 
weakness may disappear, mental disturbance may be removed, and 
spiritual longings may be satisfied. If we can hold ourselves in patience 
and steadiness long enough to get the point of what God has been trying 
to teach us, we shall discover the greatest secret of power we have 
ever known. 


xi 


xii FOREWORD 


As far as possible these Studies have been kept free from technical 
terms. They do not pretend to make any contribution to psychological 
thinking, nor to theology. The Biblical material has not been used to 
prove any theories, but as a faithful and most reliable record of some 
of the experience through which people have discovered God, and His 
ways. If this book succeeds in steadying the thinking of anyone who is 
looking for a rational basis for faith in eternal realities, it will have 
accomplished its purpose. Jesus Christ is adequate for all human need. 

Grateful acknowledgment is made to many books and friends 
consulted by the author; likewise to Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Company, 
Boston, Massachusetts, for permission to use two stanzas of ‘‘The 
Higher Catechism” from ‘Songs of the Average Man” by Sam Walter 
Foss; to the Oxford University Press, London, for permission to use 
the Revised Version of the Bible; to George H. Doran Company, 
New York City, for permission to use quotations from the Moffat 
translation of the New Testament; and to E. P. Dutton & Company, 
New York City, for permission to use certain prayers from ‘‘A Chain 
of Prayer Across the Ages.” 

May God help us all to discover the methods by which mind, body 
and spirit may disclose Him as a reality, and as the only power for 
transcendent living. 

B. CG, 
New York Cry, 


January 1, 1925. 


A WAY INTO THE SECRETS OF THE INNER LIFE 


Wuicu We Dare Not OvEeRLooK 
Lest We Miss tHe Livine Spirit 
Anp Losr OURSELVES IN THE ForEsT oF WoRrpDSs 


Kach morning of this new year, as we stand at our open window, 
or look off to the hills, or up to the heavenly blue limit, let us think of 
God and speak to Him in low clear tones: 


Every day and every hour, 
Father, I breathe in Thy life-giving power: 
Power to love, 
Power to be pure, 
Power to be well, 
Power to endure. 


We have walked the road of daily life so long alone, that we need 
to say these words over and over until we begin to sense some connec- 
tion between ourselves and our heavenly Father. The repetition of this 
act of faith will slowly but surely change our dull mind into the 
receptive spirit of a little child without which we may not enter into 
the kingdom of heaven. When the open heart of a little child becomes 
ours, we shall be ready to receive the teaching of God. 





A WAY TO 
PEACE, HEALTH, AND POWER 





THE CONNECTING CURRENT OF LIFE 
BETWEEN THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND GOD 


First WEEK / 
HOW WE KNOW IT 


In the life history of the human race, all peoples of every generation 
have been aware of a God; a creative spirit of life and energy. 
Individuals, through personal limitations, may be unaware of Him, 
but the people in general have an instinctive knowledge that there is 
Someone, however shrouded in mystery, with whom they inevitably 
must reckon; the Father of their spirits. The wisest philosophers 
have called man “‘a religious animal”’ because through all ages, men 
and women have had a hunger for God as real as their hunger for food. 
A little girl, born blind and deaf, whose spirit was imprisoned in utter 
darkness and silence, was told about God by touch signs on the palm 
of her hand. Her face lighted up with the joy of a new discovery as 
she signalled back: “‘God! Is that what you call Him? I have known 
Him a long time; but I never knew His name.”’ Sooner or later, we too, 
discern that there is in the world “the true light, which lighteth 
every man.” 

One way in which we show this instinct for God is in our judgments 
of others. We estimate their moral worth or weakness by an inner 
God-like standard which we hold as our ideal. We say of another’s 
deed: “That was an unchristian act’’; or ‘He is not what I expected 
him to be.”? What we really mean is that this one has failed to measure 
up to our inner conception of God-like conduct. We may come short 
ourselves; but, instinctively, we apply the rule of perfection to the 
conduct of others. 

Even though we are careless about our own standards, we train 
up little children to respect the highest law in their hearts, and count 
education in ideals a necessity. We toil and sacrifice ourselves in order 
that our children may reach a higher plane of living than that which 
we have attained. Long years — practically one fourth of the life 
span — is devoted to this training. Why should we do this, age after 
age, if there were no conscious connection with an unseen Spirit to 

whom we hold ourselves responsible? 


1 


2 THE CONNECTING CURRENT OF LIFE 


In spite of our decisions to the contrary, we never actually consider 
the search for God a closed question, until we find Him answering 
to our human spirit. Our spirit compels us to continue the quest, with 
wistfulness or pessimism; with confidence, or restless uncertainty; 
but always with a resistless urge. As in ages ago, so now, we too, say 
in the silence of the night, or under the crushing experiences of life, 
“Oh that I knew where I might find Him.” 


‘Dark is the world to thee: thyself art the reason why; 
“for is He not all but thou, that has power to feel, ‘I am I?’ ” 


In a closer way we sense our connection with an infinite Power. 
Who of us has not experienced flashes of illumination at times when we 
were at our wit’s end? Something happened, beyond our wisdom. 
We called it truly an inspiration. At that moment of our need, God 
breathed into the mind a thought; a guiding torch, and we found our 
way out of our trouble. Again, we were exhausted with our vigils and 
our tasks; we had not the physical strength to go on. Soon there came 
what we called our ‘second wind”; a vigor drawn from some hidden 
depth; and we did what before we could not do. The ancient seers 
understood the prime source of that power: “The Creator of the ends 
of the earth fainteth not, neither is weary. He giveth power to the 
faint: and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength . . . 
I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me.” 

If we have the wisdom to relate our experiences not to secondary 
causes only, but to the great first Cause, we shall begin to understand 
the limitless possibilities of our human life. 

“Thou hidden love of God, whose height, 
Whose depth unfathomed no man knows, 
I see from far thy beauteous light, 
Inly I sigh for Thy repose: 
My heart is pained, nor can it be 
At rest, till it find rest in Thee.” 1729 G. Terstegen. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Ye worship that which ye know not: we worship that which we know: 
for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now.is, when the 
true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth 
the Father seek to be his worshippers. God is a Spirit: and they that 
worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman saith unto him, 
I know that Messiah cometh (which is called Christ): when he is come, 
he will declare unto us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto 
theeam he. John 4:22-26. 


Then Job answered and said, Oh that I knew where I might find him, 


HOW WE KNOW IT 3 


that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, 
and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which he 
would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. Would 
he contend with me in the greatness of his power? Nay; but he would 
give heed unto me. Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, 
but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, when he doth work, but I 
cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him. 
But he knoweth the way that I take; when he hath tried me, I shall come 
forth as gold. Job 23 : 3-6; 8-10. . 


An intellectual conception of the immanence of God did not keep the 
non-christian world from idolatry. It is not enough to admit theoretically 
the fact that we are the offspring of God and that our life and breath are 
dependent on Him. We must ‘‘feel after Him and find Him.” Plotinus 
expressed the problem of life in his dying words: ‘‘I am striving to bring the 
God which is within into harmony with the God which is in the universe.”’ 

Jesus put His finger on the point where God and man meet, when He 
said to the woman of Samaria ‘‘God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him 
must worship in spirit and truth.’’ She was like the multitude who are 
interested in religious questions and forms of worship as intellectual 
opinions, but whose inner life is at cross purposes with the moral law of 
God. The great discovery of the Hebrews was the God of righteousness 
and truth who required the same standards of character in His children. 
If God is the infinite Spirit of holiness, and we are His children, it is fitting 
that we should follow the instincts of our spirit toward spiritual values 
and away from the desires of the flesh. Sometimes we are upset in our 
thinking when we are told that science has never seen God in the heavens, 
nor discovered the human soul. ‘‘We recover ourselves’’ as Bishop Gore 
observes ‘‘as we recollect that, if God be what we believe Him to be, 
immaterial and spiritual, then He would cease to be Himself if He were 
visible through a telescope: and that if the spirit of man be what we believe 
it to be, that is the very reason why no surgeon’s knife can ever arrive at it.”’ 


“Thou Life within my life, than self more near, 
Thou Veiled Presence infinitely clear; 
From ail illusive shows of sense I flee 
To find my center and my rest in Thee.” 


We do not have to grope after God: He is seeking us, waiting to reveal 
Himself to the spirit within. Job, long before Jesus unfolded the kingdom 
of the inner life, felt this truth instinctively. The God he discovered lifted 
him above the struggles and trials of earth. He knew God would attend to 
his need, if he could but find Him, and his spirit knew that God cared 
about the path his soul was taking and that in the end it would come forth 
free from its earthly struggles like the pure gold refined in the fire. Nothing 
can hold down a spirit —it gathers new power from every experience. 

How do we know that we are one with God? Is our knowledge instinctive 
or reasoned? In what does our dominant interest in religion centre? 
What holds the centre of importance? —forms and human opinions or 
the task of sublimating our desires and instincts into the character and 
purposes of God? Are we as far along in our understanding of God as 


4 THE CONNECTING CURRENT OF LIFE 


Job was thousands of years ago? If not, why not? Does our spirit triumph 
as did his in spite of boils? What is the horizon of our soul? 


Almighty God, we invoke Thee, the fountain of Ever- 
lasting Light, and entreat Thee to send forth Thy truth 
into our hearts, and to pour upon us the glory of Thy 
brightness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 


Sarum Breviary, A. D. 1088. 


Szeconp WEEK 
HOW WE STRENGTHEN IT 


Our consciousness of anything becomes vivid as we give it our 
earnest attention. To us the world, teeming with infinite wonders, is 
no greater than our thought of it. The greatest facts fail to register 
unless we give heed to them. Many a time we have walked down a 
street, with our thought so fixed on some inner problem, that we failed 
to see the sunset, or the look of joy in the eyes of a child, or the beauty 
of line in a bit of sculpture, or the suffering on some old woman’s face. 
All of these might have stirred our souls to new life; but we were dead 
to all that might touch us, save that one problem on which our mind 
was set. There is a precise ratio between the size of our world and our 
mental alertness. It is true also in the spiritual world. Our sense of 
God becomes keen only as we make room in our mind for the thought 
of Him, and turn steadily to Him, concentrating our attention on Him. 

Attention is only perfect when it is linked with a sympathetic, 
open-minded spirit. When our mind is in the turmoil of an inner 
argument, when we are more intent on balancing our opinions than 
on receiving more light outside of ourselves, we make ourselves 
inaccessible to God. 

Some silent place, where our inner spirit is alone, is necessary for 
concentration. It may be in the still depths of nature, or within 
four walls; in the uninterrupted quiet of a sanctuary, or in the loneliness 
of the crowd. For many of us, conditions of living make physical 
silences impossible; and a waking hour in the night is the only time 
when God can get our attention. We may find peace and relaxation 
then; but usually the mind is too fatigued after the day’s work to think 
constructively. The business of strengthening our connection with 
infinite powers deserves a time in the morning and evening, when, 
in the full vigor of our spirit, we may be open-doored to God. 

‘As, in life’s best hours we hear 
By the spirit’s finer ear 
His low voice within us, thus 
The All-Father heareth us; 
And His holy ear we pain 
With our noisy words and vain. 
Not for Him our violence 
Storming at the gates of sense, 
His the primal language, His 
The Eternal silences!”” The Prayer of Agassiz. 


5 


6 THE CONNECTING CURRENT OF LIFE 


We must also take it for granted that the God who made us and 
holds us in life, desires to come near us even more than we can possibly 
desire to come near to Him. When two spirits have the same longing, 
there is every possibility for self-revelation, which is the basis of all 
friendship. A friend reveals himself to his friend, and receives also 
the self-revelation of his comrade. 

One of the joys of friendship is the discovery of ourselves in our 
life with our friends. Each friend sounds depths in us which we scarcely 
suspected. So, when our human spirit reaches out to God, the Infinite 
Spirit, we become conscious of hidden desires and dispositions, and 
are influenced by His desires and character until we see in ourselves 
a new personality which no human friend has ever called out. There 
is no better way to see ourselves in true perspective than to place 
ourselves consciously in relationship with the Divine Source of our 
life. We may not understand how God can be, but of one fact we may 
be sure: from some source we have derived our life and we must be a 
part of the great whole. Like begets like, and God who wills and 
understands must be able to impart power to us. The experience will 
humble us and exalt us. We shall grow into a larger consciousness of 
ourselves, and God; which naturally brings with it new strength 
and power. 

“T see Thee not, I hear Thee not, 
Yet art Thou oft with me; 


And earth hath ne’er so dear a spot . 
As where I meet with Thee.” Ray Palmer 1858. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


“Ye shall seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou search 
after Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” Deut. 4: 29. 

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it 
shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that 
seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what 
man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a 
stone; or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? If ye then, 
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much 
more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that 
ask him?” Matt. 7 : 7-11. 


“Be still, and know that Iam God.” Psa. 46: 10. 
“My soul, wait thou only upon God; 
For my expectation is from him.” Psa. 62: 8. 


We cannot be casual about our religious life and expect to gain 
real knowledge of God. Anything that is worth while deserves all 


HOW WE STRENGTHEN IT 7 


the concentration we can command. We need to examine our mental 
habits and see whether our natural tendencies hinder our being able 
to discover God within us. Are we increasing or decreasing our ability 
to concentrate? What type of thought holds us when we voluntarily 
choose our own subject? Do we ever lose ourselves in thought over 
anything? Each day we are forging chains of habit, and we may find 
it growingly difficult to search for God with all our heart and soul, 
unless we begin at once to train our mind to become spiritually 
attentive. 

The dominant desires of our heart are answered. Whatever we 
concentrate upon as our goal is likely to come. If our dominant 
desires are spiritual and in harmony with the great laws of God, nothing 
can prevent their fulfillment. Is God a thesis or an experience in our 
life? What proof of His reality do we seek most to have? 

All the advance in knowledge in the world has come because 
earnest minds were persistently seeking, and knocking. They always 
get light for the next step toward their goal. God compares Himself 
with the parent who lives for his child and gives it every good thing 
he possesses. Surely the heavenly Father from whom we come is 
infinitely more loving and ambitious for His children than any earthly 
father can be. This marvelous conception of God is Jesus’ special 
contribution to the world and is the most satisfying one we have known. 
Therefore if we do not strengthen our relation with God, it is because 
we are holding other things more important than our spiritual life. 

Concentration of mind on a dominant desire always means a 
silencing of other thoughts. Two interests cannot occupy the attention 
at the same time. If God alone is sought then there will be utter 
quietness when His voice is heard. We can prepare the way for God 
if we enter each day into silence. ‘‘Let a man meet with men: but his 
life is not whole, Till he goes to waste places and talks with his soul.” 
The time we spend there will depend upon the ability we have to shut 
the door on other voices. Most of us do not seek an inner silence 
because we are not on good terms with ourselves. If this is so what 
are the real reasons? “Today if ye shall hear His voice, harden not 
your hearts.” 


Our Lord who seest that all hearts are empty except 
Thou fill them and all desires balked except they 
crave after Thee; give us light and grace to seek 
and find Thee, that we may be Thine and Thou 
mayest be ours forever. Amen. (C. Rosetti. 


_ Tarrp WEEK 


HOW WE MAKE THE CONNECTION 


It is awesome to know that every spoken word quivering out into 
the air, beyond our recall, exerts its influence through its vibrations 
far beyond our ken. It has always been so; and we are only now 
beginning to understand how to gather up the sounds and make them 
audible to our poor limited ears. A friend, living far out in the open 
country, told of the peculiar emotion which gripped her one summer 
midnight when she “tuned in” on her radio and heard in the silent 
farmhouse the words of greeting broadcasted from a ship nearing the 
North Pole. Trembling with excitement, she put down the receiver. 
“Tt’s terrible,” she said. “The whole world hears a whisper!” 

We have a greater power. We can choose from among all the voices 
those which we will hear, and those which we will shut away from us. 
It is as we will. Some day we shall understand how true this is also in 
the realm of the mind. In its silent depths we can tune in with the 
strident voices of human opinion, or we can let the voice of God become 
vocal within us and harmonize ourselves with His thought. It is in 
the inner room of the mind and heart that the receiving station for 
God’s voice is located. 

It is difficult to describe the speaking of God within us. One ancient 
seer speaks of it as a “still, small voice.’”’ Many times it has been heard 
in a dream, or in those moments before waking, while under the spell 
of sub-conscious connection with God. Sometimes the voice is heard 
in the pressure of a thought which is so insistent that it must be 
heeded. A noted Christian teacher once pointed out that one could 
account for many replies to the desires we voice to God, if we believe 
that it is possible for God to put a thought into the heart of a man. 
This opens to us a whole realm of possible experience in our relation- 
ship with God. 

Our mind is played upon often by thoughts from other minds. 
Two friends who have lived together often sense in each other unspoken 
thoughts. Their close association gives them perfect understanding. 
Perhaps some of us doubt the possibility of hearing God’s thoughts. 
Have we any right to do so until we have made the test, after weeks 
and months of living in the atmosphere of the finest and holiest ideals? 
It is the pure in heart who not only see God, but hear His voice. 

Sometimes sudden memories of the past and a new association: 
of ideas become full of significance when our mind is at rest. Holy 


8 


HOW WE MAKE THE CONNECTION 9 


suggestions may come to us to-day. We shall know that they are 
from God because they transcend our human wisdom. It is only 
the quiet pool which catches reflections. Some of us are so blown 
about by the distracting winds of men’s affairs and opinions that we 
make it impossible for God to give us any wisdom. 

The pressure of heavy responsibilities and baffling experiences 
beyond our control often create a sensitiveness to the voice of God. 
There is no stimulus like that of utter helplessness. When help comes, 
we are more likely to recognize its heavenly source. If a family is 
starving, a basket of food, sent by a friend unexpectedly, comes as a 
miraculous gift from heaven. When daily needs are met and hunger 
is not poignant all seems to come as a matter of course and God as 
the constant source of supply is forgotten. Those of us who see God 
related to the events of every day, see in His unremitting faithfulness, 
evidences of His Fatherhood. We are so shortsighted that we look 
only at the experience of the present moment, forgetful of the long 
chain of connected events which have worked out the purpose of God 
for our lives. Before we call, He answers: 

“Breathe through the pulses of desire 
Thy coolness and thy balm; 
Let sense be dumb, its heats expire; 


Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire, 
O still small voice of calm.” 1872 J.G. Whittier. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


“And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent 
the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord 
was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord 
was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord 
was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, 
when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went 
out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came 
a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?” 

I Kings 19 : 11-18. 


And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the 
word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. 
And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, 
(now his eyes had begun to wax dim, that he could not see,) and the 
lamp of God was not yct gone out, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, 
in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was; that the Lord called 
Samuel: and he said, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am 
I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And 
he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And 
Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am J; for thou calledst me. 


10 THE CONNECTING CURRENT OF LIFE 


And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. Now Samuel 
did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed 
unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose 
and went to Eli, and said, Here am (; for thou calledst me. And Eli per- 
ceived that Jehovah had called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, 
Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, 
Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his 
place. And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, 
Samuel. Then Samuel said, Speak; for thy servant heareth. 
I Samuel 3 : 1-10. 


When the thunderings and fires of life have passed by and we are 
in expectant silence, we hear the still small voice of God. We are 
more sensitive to silence immediately after the roar of thunder or 
any loud voice has ceased. There is a moment or two when our spirit 
is in the atmosphere of utter quietness. Sometimes it takes a contrast 
like this to make us mindful of it. Two street urchins were taken 
away from the noise of the city to the country for the first time. A 
few minutes after they arrived one came close to the other and whis- 
pered, ‘‘Let us go back. The silence — it sounds awful!” How many 
of us have the same feeling? Are we frightened at being alone with 
ourselves — and a possible realization of God? Even Elijah wrapped 
his face in his mantle and stood there in hushed expectancy. He had 
run for his life away from the strife of the enemy and went to the 
mount of God for some help, he knew not what. That still small 
voice of God within him revealed him to himself and gave him that 
poise within which is always power. 

When we seek for the wisdom of human opinion we are usually 
dismayed by the conflicting views of perfectly sincere folk. They can 
give us the light of their own experience and help us in assembling all 
the varied points of view, but in the end we shall not find peace and 
power until we focus our spirit expectantly on what may come to 
our mind out of the silence of eternity. The ancient prophet Habakkuk 
knew what to say for the guidance of the people because he waited for 
the word of God. He learned this lesson from his dealings with God, 
“The vision is yet for the appointed time, though it tarry, wait for 
it; because it will surely come, it will not delay.” 

Note the pathos of the old high priest Eli, who after years of living 
in the atmosphere of holy things could not hear the voice of God 
because he did not act on visions which he had had. He had become 
callous in his spirit and God could not reach him with his still small 
voice; so He turned to the heart of a little child who had not lost his 
sensitiveness. The alertness of the boy Samuel who was so willing 


HOW WE MAKE THE CONNECTION 11 


to rise in the night at the least call, furnished the quality of heart 
which brought the vision of God. His desire to serve Eli, which drew 
him out of bed three times in his anxiety to do his full part, fitted him 
for a supreme revelation. 
‘‘When the fires burn low and red 

And the watch is ticking loudly 

Beside the bed: 

Though you sleep, tired out, on your couch, 

Still your heart must wake and watch 

In the dark room, 

For it may be that at midnight 

I will come.” 


Is our habit of life making us more sensitive to the whisper of God’s 
Spirit? It is possible to dwell so constantly in the realm of the common- 
place and the mechanics of living that we become automatic in our 
reactions to life and lose the sense of God. No sacrifice is too great 
to rescue our spirit from the plight of Eli who had the office of revela- 
tion without anything to reveal. 


Our Father, God: Give us {the courage to be still and 

know that thou art God: Thou didst speak to men of old 

iy a still small voice. Speak thou also unto us this day. 
men. 


FourtH WEEK 
HOW TO PUT IT TO USE 


Our human spirit clothed with a material body, in the midst of a 
material world, needs continually to draw upon the limitless power 
of God, the Father of our spirit, that it may live in triumph. There- 
fore, each day, we need to lift the heart consciously to Him in a definite 
act of devotion, until it grows to be an irresistible habit. 

As we concentrate on this, we begin to vibrate with the vital, 
inexhaustible energy of God. If we neglect this inner act, we merely 
exist — a prey to our moods and whims and to the uncertain domina- 
tion of other personalities. Most people live in this slavery. The only 
way in which we can resist the combined influences of the crowd, is 
to ally ourselves with the strength of God, who is infinitely stronger 
than the united power of lesser spirits. 

These acts of devotion, by which we increase our consciousness of 
God, are what is called prayer. Prayer avails at once in- taking away 
that sense of loneliness and helplessness which haunts the heart and 
brings despair. No one can have peace, health, or power who is 
living in despair. Countless people are in sanatoriums and hospitals 
for the insane, who would not be there if simple, childlike prayer had 
been the daily habit of life. 


“We kneel how weak, we rise full of power, 
Why therefore should we do ourselves this wrong 
Or others — that we are not always strong, 
That we are ever overborne with care, 
That we should ever weak or heartless be, 
Anxious or troubled, when with us is prayer, 
And joy, and strength, and courage are with Thee?”’ 
Archbishop Trench. 


The human spirit shares the power of God to the extent that it 
shares His nature and the qualities of His spirit. In the Christian 
scriptures, we have the highest revelation of what God our Father is 
like, as we see Him in the life and character of Jesus around whom 
these scriptures are centered. It has been the experience of those who 
honestly study the teachings of Jesus, that they know instinctively, 
that his words are true; and that they stand the tests of life. He is 
the great specialist in the knowledge of God. Therefore, at any cost, 
we dare not miss the secret of His power, nor fail to follow Him on 
the open road to peace, health, and victory. 


12 


HOW TO PUT IT TO USE 13 


Jesus is the only personality who never broke the vital connection 
with His Father, God. Every act and word of His thirty-three years 
of incarnation in human flesh, was dynamic with more than human 
power. He was human, and more than human; He was the perfect 
conductor for the infinite power of God. It would be foolish to think 
that we can learn how to live without constant study of the life of 
Jesus, in order to discover the true characteristics of the life that is 
inevitably immortal. 

According to the teaching of Jesus, the basis of prayer is personal 
trust in the character of God, as a loving Father. This conception of 
God we know to be true because it satisfies all the desires and longings 
of the human heart. The spirit of prayer which is born of this ideal 
opens up vast possibilities for life. If God is Father, then we can 
be sure that he is vitally interested in what concerns his children — 
It also means that childhood is a training for the inheritance of power; 
that life does not begin and end in weakness, but rises continuously 
to new heights of wisdom and achievement. Prayer becomes the 
meeting place where Father and child talk together; the state of 
mutual understanding; the moment where the spark of living energy 
leaps from heart to heart. 

All this would be impossible if God were merely an unknown sinister 
Being who must be placated by endless sacrifice and served in craven 
fear. The generations which have had such a conception have known 
only the pleadings of fear: not the prayer of faith which works wonders. 
Therefore it is of infinite importance that we make Jesus’ conception 
of God our own, and begin to avail ourselves of the vast resources of 
power which can only be released through a faith that is a personal 
trust in a God of love. Any other idea of God except the one Jesus 
taught cripples the possibilities of prayer. All people have lighted 
their darkness with some kind of light, if it were but a flickering 
torch, but those of us with the highest ideal turn darkness into day 
by the power of electricity. Even so, all men everywhere have prayer, 
but not all men have known its full power. That has been experienced 
in proportion to our faithfulness in following in the steps of Christ. 
The Bible is full of this teaching, available for anyone, however weak 
and needy. If-we struggle on in helplessness, it will not be because 
God is unwilling to answer prayer, but because of our unwillingness 
to know the secret of the power which is revealed by Jesus Christ. 


14 ‘THE CONNECTING CURRENT OF LIFE 


‘Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, 
Uttered or unexpressed, 
The motion of a hidden fire 
That trembles in the breast. 
Prayer is the burden of a sigh, 
The falling of a tear, 
The upward glancing of an eye 
When none but God is near.” 
J. Montgomery. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites: for they love to 
stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that 
they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their 
reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, 
and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy 
Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee. And in praying use 
not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be 
heard for their much speaking. Be not therefore like unto them: for your 
Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After 
this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed 
be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done as in heaven, so 
on earth. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, 
as we also have forgiven our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from the evil one. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, 
your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their 
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matt. 6 : 6-16. 


Jesus never argued with people about the philosophy of prayer. 
He knew people could not help praying any more than they could 
help breathing. It is the instinct of the human heart to lift its thought 
to God. Therefore note that Jesus does not say, “If you pray,” but 
‘When you pray.’ How much time people waste in discussing the 
value of prayer when it is the spirit, and method, and range of prayer 
that is important. Prayer is not a religious performance in order that 
public proprieties may be observed, but a communion with the Father 
in secret where the spirit of man waits silently for God. It is at the 
dynamic centre of that world within where all our instincts and desires 
clamor for control. Whatever reigns there determines all the outward 
life. 

In responding to the pressure of the Divine Spirit we have all we 
need for guidance, wisdom and power. Jesus assures us that the 
Father is far more willing to pervade our inner life with His spirit 
than we are to give our children bread. He is ever at the door press- 
ing in upon us. When we relax and throw open every entrance of our 
being to His coming, our spirit becomes alive to the sense of higher 
realities. As Whittier wrote: 


HOW TO PUT IT TO USE 15 


“So sometimes comes to soul and sense, 
The feeling which is evidence 
That very near about us lies 
The realm of spiritual mysteries. 
The sphere of the supernal powers 
Impinges on this world of ours. 
The low and dark horizon lifts, 
To light the scenic terror shifts; 
The breath of a diviner air 
Blows down the answer of a prayer: 
That all our sorrow, pain, and doubt 
A great compassion clasps about, 
And law and goodness, love and force 
Are wedded fast beyond divorce.” 


The model prayer which we call the Lord’s Prayer has at its heart 
the two-fold consciousness; our relation to our Father and our relation 
to all mankind. It is an acid test for all desires. Are they according 
to the “manner” of speech taught us by Jesus? In voicing the desires 
of our hearts which objective is used more: “us” or “me”? What pos- 
sible explanation may there be in this for a limited experience with 
God? In naming what is most important to our life how much of it 
harmonizes with the prayers of others? Is competition or codpera- 
tion the mainspring of devotion? 

The primitive needs of humanity are all of concern to the love of 
God. Eating, drinking, clothing, wisdom, work, these are the neces- 
sary outfitting for the soul when it is incarnate in human flesh — 
“Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things,” says Jesus, 
“Be not therefore anxious.” Woe to him who tries to restrain God from 
answering these needs, “He that selleth the needy for a pair of shoes” 
will not find any inspiration in prayer. All the resources of God are 
against the selfish soul. , 


“Search me, O God, and know my heart: 
Try me and know my thoughts: 
And see if there be any way of wickedness in me, 
And lead me in the way everlasting.”” Amen. 


THE PERVADING PRESENCE OF A 
PERSONAL GOD 


Firta WEEK | 
AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE IN HIS WORLD 


From earliest days, even the most primitive people have con- 
nected the material world with a spiritual presence. They pictured a 
spirit in the mountain, a spirit in the sunrise, a spirit in plants and 
trees, and a spirit within the stars. Later thinking viewed the world 
without, not as possessed by many different spirits, but pervaded by 
the presence of the Infinite Spirit of God, intimately near to all of us. 

We know what a man is like, by the quality of his work; sooner 
or later the day declares it. We know God, also, by His workmanship 
in His World. Sometimes we look at another person and say: “One 
cannot judge by appearances; the man looks honest, but we have had 
no dealings with him, and cannot say what the dominant qualities of 
his character may be.” With God we do not depend on His outward 
appearance, because no man hath seen God at any time. But far 
more important knowledge of Him is ours. He has conducted vast 
enterprises in the universe, and we can study His methods, and through 
them know unerringly His real character and heart. 

We discover that God is the soul of perfection. His work is flaw- 
less. The most complex living creature is intricately fashioned, and 
marvelously adapted for every exigency. Each tiny cell functions in 
silent efficiency; the mark of perfect workmanship. Each flake of 
snow that falls from heaven is perfect in its beauty and design, though 
it be only one of millions, and melt away under the sun’s first rays. 
We may drill down into the earth and bring up a bit of rock only to 
discover that it, too, is perfect in its geometrical crystals and forma- 
tion. A hair on the body of the smallest insect and the eye of a man 
are both fashioned in utter completeness. There is no sham or untidy 
spot in God’s world; hidden away or open, it defies all critical inspection. 
God is everywhere and in all things absolute perfection. 

We discover also that God is faithfulness. We go to sleep in peace, 
each night, knowing that the sun will shine in the morning, the waters 
of the mighty deep will surely be held true to the tides, and the harvest 


16 


AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE IN HIS WORLD 17 


will come from the seed. We look up in quietness to the stars in the 
sky, knowing that they will swing in their orbits and that God’s plan 
for the universe will not fail. We can rely on His faithfulness. 

We know, too, that God has an extraordinary purpose for man- 
kind. In all the world about us, human beings have supreme privi- 
leges. We are endowed with peculiar powers of mind by which we can 
make use of God’s created works, and by new combinations carry on 
the God-like work of creation. We came into life as helpless infants 
and by the use of our creative powers may develop great personalities; 
capable of thinking God’s thoughts and working with Him. Evidently 
God’s great heart purposes a mighty destiny for man, because He has 
arranged such a complex world of infinite possibilities for His training 
in greatness. 


“The earth with its stores of wonder untold, , 
Almighty, Thy power hath founded of old, 
Hath stablished it fast by a changeless decree, 
And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea. 
Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite? 
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light; 
It streams from the hills; it descends to the plain, 
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.” 
R. Grant 1839. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness 
and unrighteousness of men, who hold down the truth in unrighteousness; 
because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God 
manifested it unto them. For the invisible things of him since the crea- 
tion of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that 
are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be with- 
out excuse. Rom. 1 : 15-20. 


To whom then will ye liken me, that I should be equal to him? saith 
the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these, 
that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by name; by the 
greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lack- 
ing. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid 
from the Lord, and my judgment is passed away from my God? Hast 
thou not known? hast thou not heard? the everlasting God, the Lord, the 
Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is 
no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to 
him that hath no might he increaseth strength. Jsa. 40 : 25-29. 


Therefore I say unto you, be not anxious for your life, what ye shall 
eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. 
Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold 
the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor 


18 PERVADING PRESENCE OF A PERSONAL GOD 


gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of 
much more value than they? Matt. 6 : 25-26. 


There are three great characteristics of nature which reveal a God 
who is adequate for all our need. One of them is the manifestation 
of power; so mighty that we can rest all our weakness upon it, and 
so humbling that there is no room for pride. If anything should 
keep a child-like heart within the majority of us, God’s presence in 
His world ought to do it. 


“God moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform; 
He plants His footsteps in the sea 
And rides upon the storm.” 
: Willtam Cowper 1774. 


There is no room for vainglory if we view ourselves in the per- 
spective of God’s universe. David, the King, had a truer sense of values 
than most of us to-day. He looked up at the moon and stars, and the 
blue heavens, and in his sense of his insignificance exclaimed: “What 
is man that Thou art mindful of him?” Many of us stop there and 
do not get the other side of the truth that he discerned in the next 
breath, “Thou hast made him but little lower than God, Thou hast 
put all things under his feet.’’ Many a student, delving into astronomy 
has reeled with the immensity of the heavenly spaces and inferred that 
man is after all only a handful of animated atoms. But the miracle of 
all nature is that man, a mere speck on the horizon, has the capacity 
to sweep the heavens, and pilot his way over the trackless seas by stars 
that are millions of miles away. 

We stand in awe also before the omniscience of God. Stumblingly 
we grope our way to knowledge which is locked up in the libraries of 
nature. We try to reproduce awkwardly what nature creates silently 
and without effort. We never plumb the depths of the wisdom of nature. 
The wisest of men of all ages have scarcely gone beyond the alphabet. 
How can any of us regard his small problems as unsolvable when there 
is no searching of God’s understanding! 

We see also a benevolent nature. Nothing is forgotten. Every 
provision is made for the care of her children. The feeding of the 
birds is the Creator’s concern, and the color of the lily. Wounds are 
healed by the marvelous recuperative powers. Nothing has been 
left undone to help us to grow up and fulfill all the possibilities of our 
being. When obstructions come they are of our own creation; for 
man, and not God, is the enemy of man. 


AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE IN HIS WORLD 19 


We are indeed without excuse if we ignore these lessons from the 
world about us. If we throw aside our God-given powers and lead a 
parasitic life we shall lose our capacities of soul. The earth is one 
mighty workshop for the development of man. God trusts us with 
His unharnessed forces and promises strength and wisdom for all our 
needs. Why then are we so foolish in doing only what our frail strength 
can bring to pass and neglecting the codperation with God for miracu- 
lous works? How do we measure our resources — by our ability or by 
our willingness, to let God work through us? Where do we set our 
limits and say, “Beyond this lies impossibility?”, “The things that 
are impossible with man, are possible with God.” 

Lord I believe! Help Thou my unbelief,” Amen, 


Sixta WEEK 
AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE IN JESUS 


To see God in the world, in all His creative power, is sublime and 
humbling. In the perspective of the universe, man seems the merest 
atom. May he hope to have real companionship with the Infinite? 
Can it be possible that frail humanity may push through to the higher 
plane, where the destiny it hungers for becomes a reality? 

This hunger for relationship with God is a mark of our supremacy 
in the created world and indicates qualities which tend to fit us for a 
higher realm of life. These qualities make us individuals with bound- 
less personality. This separates us from the world of things. Every 
little child knows this. No amount of material things can satisfy its 
heart, if the mother, the great personality in its tiny world, is beyond 
reach. All of us, children of larger growth, need the presence of a 
personality wiser than our own, to guide us in our search for God. 

In the pages of history, certain personalities tower above all others 
in their understanding of God. Among them all, Jesus, in the sim- 
plicity of His teaching transcends the highest in mankind. 

The most discerning men of wisdom echo Sidney Lanier’s words: 

“What least defect or shadow of defect, 
What rumor, tattled by an enemy 
Of inference loose, what lack of grace, 
Even in torture’s grasp, or sleep’s or death’s — 
O what amiss may I forgive in Thee, 
Jesus, good Paragon, thou crystal Christ.” 

He alone qualifies as the guiding expert in our search for peace, 
health, and power. If we are mentally honest and sincere, we shall 
be willing, in a spirit of scientific inquiry, to follow Jesus as the best 
working hypothesis for discovering as much of God as mortals may 
know. 

We should still be living in incoherent uncertainty were it not 
that God has come near to us in the person of Jesus. In His life untold 
millions, through the centuries, have seen God. History concedes 
that He is as much of God as has ever been compassed within the 
limits of human personality; a perfect medium for the revelation of 
the heart and mind of God. As we study Jesus, it begins to dawn on 
us that every quality we long for in God is radiant in Him. The per- 
fection of His relationship with God gives us hope that we too may 
inherit the same friendship: one like unto the perfect relation of 


20 


AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE IN JESUS 21 


father and child with all the loving expectancy, the tender pro- 
tection and the reverence that it involves. 

We may well heed the ways in which Jesus conquered the world 
by His spirit. He naturally and instinctively used the laws which the 
wisest philosophers have groped after uncertainly. He lived on a 
plane where the laws of the spirit are dominant and overcome the 
desires of the flesh. Those who discerned His heart, knew He was 
unlike any personality the world had seen, in spite of the limitations 
of His human incarnation. We who see Him in the perspective of his- 
tory, know that even yet He towers high above the poor best that 
mankind has been able to achieve, after two thousand years of testing 
His methods. 

The records of the life of Jesus in the New Testament will yield 
all that the world now hails as new truth in the realm of the spirit. 
His character bears any scrutiny. Even the critical Renan writes, 
‘“‘Whatever the surprises of history, Jesus will never be surpassed.” 
More than nineteen hundred years have passed and today when our 
discoveries in science are pushing up into the unseen powers of the 
natural world we are beginning to see that Jesus is the only One who 
is perfectly at home in these higher planes that the eyes of the mind 
are only beginning to discern. He still leads the way up and out from 
all limitations. Those of us who have demonstrated in some small 
degree the reality of His teaching know within our hearts the truth of 
His power. Even from unexpected sources we find a discerning wit- 
ness to the power of Jesus. The words of Napoleon bear this out. 

“Alexander, Cesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded great 
empires, but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? 
Upon force! Jesus alone founded His empire on Love, and to this very 
day millions would die for Him, I think I understand something of 
human nature, and I tell you that all these were men, and I am a 
man. None else is like Him. Jesus Christ was more than a man.” 

‘Jesus thou joy of loving hearts, 
Thou fount of life, thou light of men; 
From the best bliss that earth imparts, 


We turn unfilled to thee again.” 
Bernard of Clairvoizx 1150 A. D. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, 
and keeping watch by night over their flock. And an angel of the Lord 
stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around about them: 
and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; 


22 PERVADING PRESENCE OF A PERSONAL GOD 


for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the 
people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, 
which is Christ the Lord. And this is a sign unto you; Ye shall find a 
babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. And suddenly 
there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, 
and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men 
in whom he is well pleased. Luke 2 : 8-14. 


I am the door: By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall 
go in and go out, and shall find pasture. The thief cometh not, but that 
he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have hfe, and 
may have it abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd; the good shepherd 
layeth down his life for the sheep. John 10: 9-11. 


Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, saying, I am the light of the 
world: He that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall 
have the light of life. John 8 : 12. 


All things have been tdelivered unto me of my Father: and no one 
knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, 
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him. Come 
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of 
heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For, my yoke is easy and my 
burden is hght. Matt. 11 : 27-30. 


The heart of Christianity is the personality of Jesus. He is the 
centre of its power and the One who gives meaning to the whole of 
life. He is the spirit of triumphant victory and joy. Of all the religions 
in the world Christianity is the most Joyous. Songs and praises began 
at His birth and have never ceased through the centuries. When we 
face our sins and the sorrows that surrounded the death of Christ we 
forget the joy and triumph of His life. He came to burst the bonds of 
death and sorrow and to bring the joy of deliverance. Naturally the 
Christmas bells ring when the triumphant song is heard: ‘Glory to God 
in the highest and on earth peace among men in whom He is well 
pleased.’ 

Jesus is everything that men long for: light in darkness; protection 
in danger, freedom from sin, rest for weariness, strength for weakness, 
faith for fear, life for death. No other religion has ever promised such 
perfect freedom. Even in the face of the crucifixion Jesus says to His 
intimate friends during their last supper together: ‘“These things have 
I spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be 
full.” (John 15:11) Why then, are we so slow to possess our spiritual 
inheritance. We do not have to go about bearing depressing burdens. 
Jesus has conquered death and all those things that make life hard 
for us. . 


AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE IN JESUS 23 


In the light of these triumphs of Christian thinking it is well for us 
to face our motives for ignoring an out and out allegiance to Christ. 
_ Why do we not believe in the power of Jesus? Is He too great to be 
true? Dare we cling to any other ideal of God than that of Jesus? We 
are constantly yearning for the very experiences which He said we 
might have. Why do we not rise up in faith and prove the truth of 
His words? What most of us need is hope to lift us out of the rut of 
our thinking and the inhibitions of our fears. We do not get it from 
outer circumstances: we find it only by taking the words of Jesus at 
their full face value. He challenges the moral honesty of all of us to 
come and see for ourselves whether His point of view about life and 
death and sickness and sin will not bring us the freedom for which we 
long. 

There is no other way of finding God save through Jesus. He has 
blazed the trail by which the human spirit can become one with the 
Father, God. We would still be groping in our intricate philosophical 
speculations, going round in circles, victims of an impersonal scheme 
of things and impotent to attain to spiritual life. The way of Jesus is 
the way , the truth, the life. The fact that some have been half-heartedly 
interested in it, or have stumbled in following their Lord, is not a 
reflection on Him, but rather a witness to the universal desire to be 
related to Him in some way as a goal, even though it be far ahead of 
our present realization. It proves, too, how far above human effort 
the transcendent Christ lives, making us feel after twenty centuries 
that He is as far above us as the heavens are higher than the earth. 
Millions more people now look to Him as their Ideal than during all 
the years He lived on earth. His spiritual dominance is greater with 
each passing century. 


O blessed Saviour, draw us; draw us by the cords of 
Thy love; draw us by the sense of Thy goodness, draw 
us by the unspotted purity and beauty of Thy example; 
Draw us by the merit of Thy precious death and by 
the power of Thy Holy Spirit; Draw us good Lord, 
and we shall run after Thee; for Thy Name’s sake. 
Amen. ' Isaac Barrow A. D. 1630. 


5 


SrventoH WEEK 
AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE WITHIN US 


We have already seen that it is our inner spirit which lifts us above 
the material world and connects us with God. It is the thinking, feel- 
ing, willing part of us which has the power to hear the “still, small 
voice” of God. 

Spirit is all-living, all-pervasive, all-powerful, ever reaching out, 
and up, and irresistible. The gift of spirit to man makes him the 
offspring of God. It is the I, the conscious I am, by which I am aware 
that I am‘a living person. We may enslave ourselves voluntarily in a 
dark prison of material things and in the shadowy life of the senses, 
but try as hard as we may to forget, the inner spirit restlessly yearns 
to be free once more. 

Jesus came, all glorious, because His spirit and God were one. 
God shone out in living presence in Him so much that some of those 
who were with Him, cried out : ‘My Lord and my God!” 

An amazing secret Jesus has shared with us. He said to those 
earnest folk who wanted to understand spiritual mysteries, “The 
kingdom of God is within you.” He voiced it also in a prayer which, 
He said, was not only for His disciples, but ‘‘for them also that believe 
on me through their word.” Thus He includes each one of us who longs 
to be like Him. His words seem almost incredible. ‘“The glory which 
thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one even 
as we are one.” 

When we think of the character of Christ, — the glory which lifted 
Him above all men who have ever walked the earth; a glory which 
made Him triumphant over sin, and death, and hatred; a glory which 
bestowed upon Him such powers of love and wisdom that no one could 
find a flaw in Him, we can scarcely understand how that glory could 
be given to us. What inexhaustible riches are within our grasp because 
Jesus has invited us into His kingdom of love! 

God, then, is within us, bringing us if we will it to be so, into 
oneness with Him and into oneness with all other spirits who are one 
with Him! 

If, each day, we turn away from all outer life for a while and con- 
centrate our thought upon our inner life, silently and expectantly, we 
shall find that God is within us illumining our mind, and diffusing the 
love of Himself in our secret heart. It is vain to try to penetrate the 


24 


AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE WITHIN US 25 


distant heaven to find God. He is within us: how then can God be 
far away. 
“Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can meet — 


Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet!” 
Browning. 


In spite of this possibility we feel also the tug of another influence: 
a pressure toward the things of sense; a rebel impulse which fights 
against the God-spirit within us. So long as we yield to it, we live with- 
out spiritual hope and without God. It is we who shut ourselves out 
from His presence. He is there, within us, ready to meet us when we 
enter our inner room and shut the door upon the world without. 

There are other ways in which we are conscious that God is within 
us. In that moment of hesitation before we make a moral choice for 
or against our highest self, we instinctively think of God. Like Words- 
worth, we too “feel a Presence that disturbs” us, and that sense of 
God becomes the sensitive guide for conduct. 


“Therefore I walk as one who sees the joy shine through 
Of the other life behind our life, as the stars behind the blue.”’ 


Jesus told his disciples to pray until the Holy Spirit of God should 
come into their inner lives. He fully expected that the life of the body 
should be controlled by spiritual laws and that we should be living 
temples, the home of His Spirit. In this way He means to dwell among 
men, so that people may come to know Him through our walk, and 
conversation, and contacts with life. Bishop Gore points out that 
because the special quality of the Holy Spirit is holiness, “it is in 
rational natures, which alone are capable of holiness, that He exerts 
His special influence.” 

There is no way of gaining power from the indwelling spirit of 
God unless we are willing to have the character of God wrought out 
in us. ‘He giveth His Spirit to them that obey Him”’ said St. Paul. 
It is only as representatives of God on earth that we can be entrusted 
with the outshining Presence. It is not for a selfish luxury of emotion 
nor for the degrading of power for selfish ends. It is that we may be 
able to work the works of God and bring nearer the day when His will 
may be done on earth as it is done in heaven. 


“For Thou within no walls confined, 
Inhabitest the humble mind. 
Such ever bring Thee when they come, 
And going take Thee to their home.’’. 
W. Cowper 1769. 


26 PERVADING PRESENCE OF A PERSONAL GOD 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God cometh, 
he (Jesus) answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with 
observation: neither shall they say, "Lo, here! or, There! for lo, the kingdom 
of God is within you. Luke 17 : 20-21. 


If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. And I will pray the 
Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with 
you forever, even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for 
it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth 
with you, and shall be in you. John 14: 15-17. 


How be it when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you 
into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever 
he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the 
things that are to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall — of mine, and 
shall declare it unto you. John 16: 13-14. 


Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of so) 
Father. He that hath ears, let him hear. Matt. 13: 43. 


The story goes that in pioneer days a community of people suffered 
from the cold during a bitter winter. There was a scarcity of fuel and 
they met in their churches to pray for milder weather. Later on, when 
they were digging in the earth, they discovered large quantities of 
soft coal; — encugh to keep multitudes in comfort. While they had 
been looking for help from God without, He had provided resources 
within their reach. Even so we look up to God in heaven and try to 
find Him, when lo! He is within us, end DE us to ice Him in 
all His power. As St. Paul says: ee 

“Work out your own salvation with fear and ccreliaes for it is God 
who worketh in you both to will and to work for His E008. arcs: , 


Note how the presence of the Spirit within us is conditioned by 
our love of Christ and our willingness to keep His commandments. 
It could not be otherwise when the purpose of God’s Presence in us is 
to transform us into the likeness of Christ. It means a more intense 
life made richer in personality because the life of Christ is added to 
our life, bringing to it.a new completeness. Thus every natural gift 
we have becomes luminous with the beauty of God. This is what some 
call inspiration. It is the experience which comes to us when we step 
out from a close stuffy room into the fresh air. We begin to glow with 
new life. Our thoughts become clearer, we breathe more easily and 
we have a new vitality and freedom. The breezes of heaven have 
entered our being and we are more fit to use our powers. This is not 
an original simile. Jesus used the thought when he said to Nicodemus 


AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE WITHIN US 27 


who sought a scientific explanation of the phenomenon of the Spirit’s 
coming into a man, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou 
hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and 
whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.’”’ (John 3 : 8.) 
We know that God dwells in us by the new illumination which comes 
to us, 
“Task no dream, no prophet-ecstasies; 

No sudden rending of the veil of clay; 

No angel visitant, no opening skies; 

But take the dimness of my soul away.” George Croly. 


The most important change within us will be in our desires. They 
will be fused together into a love for God and for others. Jesus says: 
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love 
one to another” (John 13 : 35). 

We shall not be conscious of the Presence within. The more com- 
pletely God and our spirit become one the less shall we be able to 
distinguish between them. God and our conscience become one voice. 
We shall not know that our face shines with the light of our secret life 
with Him, but others will know that the inner springs of our life are 
unfailing and that everything absorbs new vitality from association 
with us. ‘And thou shalt be like a watered garden and like a spring of 
water, whose waters fail not” (Isa. 58 : 11). 

Oh God, deliver us from blindness of heart, that we may 
not miss the destiny which Thou hast purposed that we 


should inherit. Turn Thou our hearts that we shut not 
ourselves away from Thy indwelling Presence. Amen. 


Eicuta WEEK 
AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE IN OTHERS 


Someone once said that prejudices are our dearest possessions 
relinquished only at death. It is probably true. We accumulate so 
many fixed ideas and unyielding habits of thought along the road of 
life. Most of them come from hasty judgments and inherited traditions. 
Reverence for the experience of the past is a virtue so long as we can 
view it open-mindedly; but it becomes a fault if it prevents our mental 
growth or makes us wise in our own conceit. 

One of the danger symptoms of prejudice is an easy contentment 
with our own point of view which leads us to look down on others who 
see life from a different angle. Few of us question our opinions or 
our sense of values. We seek friends who think as we think, read books 
which repeat our thoughts, and tend to become more and more what 
we already are. This habit of mind colors our thought of God. We 
picture Him to be what we think Him to be from our background and 
ideas, and our religion harmonises with our particular conception of 
Him. 

When we stop to think that the same God who is within us is 
also within others, we have a new consciousness of His infinite revela- 
tion to the world. He has incarnated living spirits in varied races 
and nationalities both of men and women, with all their differences in 
characteristics, temperament and experience, in order that there might 
be an infinite manifestation of His indwelling Presence. Each is 
meant to add his own expression of the Divine life to the glory of 
the whole. Every color of thought may enrich all others. There is 
only one condition to be fulfilled: each human being must be open- 
doored to God, relating himself to the Infinite Spirit. Each must be 
a willing medium for the abundant life. 

In an old cathedral there is a famous rose window of exquisite 
design and artistic craftsmanship. Hundreds of tiny bits of glass of 
all colors and shades are fitted into the pattern. Behind it the sun 
shines, revealing the beauty of each color and the greater beauty of 
the whole design. The sun becomes more radiant and intimate because 
of the colors, and the colors are transfigured by the sun. Without the 
sun the colors could not reveal themselves. The whole window is 
fittingly symbolic of the Presence of God in people. One soul cannot 
give the full vision of the heart of God; all others are needed; fitting 
together in intimate unity. If we could believe this with all that there 


28 


AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE IN OTHERS 29 


is in us, most of our troubles would be over, and we would learn so 
much from one another that the whole world would bound forward 
into light. 

We love others in proportion to the degree in which their 
quality of spirit transcends our own and calls forth our adoration. 
The experiences in life bring out in each of us some dominant 
quality of character. The aviator shows courage, the friend is 
faithful. Everyone is radiant in something that is God-like. If these 
marks of character are possible in others they can be grown also in us. 
The lives of others are a challenge to our own. The total of all these 
transcendent qualities in all human beings makes a composite spirit 
which shows us in part what God must be like. In the Christ we see 
all these qualities embodied and functioning in one personality. He 
thus becomes the standard for us, revealing in us whatever is like Him, 
and pointing to all that stretches ahead. 

It is good for us to see ourselves as only one variety of flower in 
God’s garden. We lose our egotism, and sense of importance and 
get closer to the common life of all humanity. This makes us tender 
toward all the children of men, so that we say ‘Our Father” with new 
humility. It is also easier to believe that God is adequate for the whole 
world, as well as for our simple needs. 

“Old friends, old scenes will lovelier be, 
As more of heaven in each we see: 
Some softening gleam of love and prayer 


Shall dawn on every cross and care.” 
J. Keble. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought great wonders and 
signs among the people. And they were not able to withstand the wisdom 
and the Spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which said, 
We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against 
God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and 
came upon him, and seized him, and brought him into the council, and set 
up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak words 
against this holy place, and the law: for we have heard him say, that this 
Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs 
which Moses delivered unto us. And all that sat in the council, fastening 
their eyes on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. 

Acts 6 : 8, 10-16. 

But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, 
came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly 
upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory was passing 
away: how shall not rather the ministration of the a be with glory? 

Cor. 3: 7-8. 


30 PERVADING PRESENCE OF A PERSONAL GOD 


Unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of 
the gift of Christ. And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; 
and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting 
of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the 
body of Christ: till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, “and of the 
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown Spl unto the measure of 
the stature of the fulness of Christ. Eph. 4: 7, 11-13. — 

Character speaks more loudly than words. People do not have to 
explain themselves. Their presence creates a personal atmosphere 
which reveals the inner soul. Some people depress us without saying 
a word, others lift us into buoyant life. If selfishness is the center 
of the heart all the world knows it in spite of our denials. If the Spirit 
of Christ rules us people will know it instinctively. 

The Spirit of Christ does not always meet with the approval of 
men. As Jesus once said, there are men who love darkness rather than 
light because the light reproves their deeds. The life of a true spiritual 
leader is never smooth. Stephen was an example of this. He was 
chosen by the multitude to supervise the social service of the early 
Christian Church because they trusted his spirit and wisdom. It is 
said of him that he was “full of grace and power” and ‘‘wrought great 
wonders” and that people were not able to withstand the wisdom and 
spirit by which he spake. Yet they stoned him and cast him out 
as they had rejected Jesus. He was persecuted because of His right- 
eousness. There is also a persecution which we bring on ourselves 
because of unrighteousness. Which kind has been true in our exper- 
ience? Note the effect of this persecution on Stephen’s spirit. He died 
praying forgiveness for his enemies and with a face radiant as an 
angel with the love of Christ. What is our reaction to opposition? 
Is it wounded vanity or pride of opinion or forgiving love? Are we 
tempted to avoid moral issues when they come naturally in the exper- 
ience of a day? We say we seek the way of peace and power. Does 
it rest on the approval of men or the inner voice of God? Moses and 
Stephen found themselves separated from people because of their 
inner radiance, but it gave Moses the power to transform a multitude 
of slaves into a nation which brought the Christ into the world. The 
face of the dying Stephen won for the cause of Christ, St. Paul, the 
mightiest apostle of the ages. What would the world have missed had 
these men not paid the price of utter devotion to the Presence of God! 

Our growth in the knowledge of God is dependent upon our appre- 
ciation of His Presence in others. No one soul or kindred group can 
fully manifest Christ. It requires all the varied experiences of His 
character to present an adequate picture. The reason why the world 


AN OUT-SHINING PRESENCE IN OTHERS 31 


is not moved by the Christ it sees, is because we present only the one 
feature that appeals to us and do not add to our conception the features 
which shine out through the experience of others. Nothing is more 
dangerous than a half truth. Generations have stumbled on in error 
because men in their pride thought they had the whole truth. The 
radiance of Christ is greater in every age. Can we do better than to 
follow the example of St. Paul in his attitude of mind, “Unto me who 
am less than the least of all saints was this grace given to preach unto 
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ’? (Eph. 3 : 8) 


Our Father, unto Thee, in the light of our Saviour’s 
blessed life, we would lift our souls. We thank Thee for 
that true light shining in our world with still increasing 
brightness. We thank thee for all who have walked 
therein, and especially to those near and dear, in whose 
lives we have seen his excellent glory and beauty. May 
we know that in the body and out of the body they are 
with Thee, and that when these earthly days come to an 
end, it is not that our service of Thee, and of one 
another may cease, but that it may begin anew. Make 
us glad in all who have faithfully lived; make us glad in 
all who have peacefully died. Lift us into light and love, 
and purity and blessedness, and give us at last our por- 
tion with those who have trusted in Thee and sought, in 
small things as in great, in things temporal and things 
eternal, todo so Thy Holy Will. Amen. 


Rufus Ellis 1819. 


THE WORLD WITHIN US 


| Ninto WEEK 
THE CREATIVE POWER OF THOUGHT 


“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he,” wrote the Hebrew seer 
thousands of years ago. He knew then instinctively what the psy- 
chologist now heralds as a scientific discovery. Everyone knows 
this truth theoretically, but does not use the mighty weapon of thought 
practically. Most people still allow their minds to be an unfenced 
space where every kind of thought may come and go as it chooses. 
We allow ourselves to be played upon by all sorts of mental influences 
and because we do not always know whence they come, we assume a 
helpless attitude toward them. Archbishop Trench describes the 
common experience in his sonnet: — 

“A wretched thing it were, to have our heart 
Like a thronged highway or a populous street 
Where every idle thought has leave to meet, 
Pause, or pass on as in an open mart; 

Or like some roadside pool, which no nice art 
Has guarded that the cattle may not beat 
And foul it with a multitude of feet, 

Till of the heavens it can give back no part.” 


In the interests of that efficiency which we all seek, we are com- 
pelled to think more about this strange power of thought which can 
make or unmake our health, our mental ability, our business success, 
and our peace of mind. We have no right to disregard the importance 
of our power house merely because it seems so intangible, and silent 
in its working. 

Kivery one of us should have a sentry at the door of our mind to 
challenge all uninvited, passing thoughts and see whether they be 
worthy to enter and to influence us. Once they are inside and allowed 
to linger, they begin to create situations and effects in which we may 
become deeply involved. 

Thoughts create bodily conditions. We all know how our circula- 
tory system is immediately affected by our thinking. It may bring a 
blush to our cheeks — so instant is the connection between our mind 
and the capillary blood vessels under the skin. A disturbing thought 


32 


THE CREATIVE POWER OF THOUGHT 33 


may so inhibit our nerve centres that we cannot eat, or sleep. A thought 
of fear may paralyze us so that we cannot move and, in the same way, 
a thought of happiness will create a new elasticity in our step and a 
glow of health in every organ of our body. When our thinking is 
morbid or depressed, every function of the body becomes so sluggish 
that it may create a condition of disease. Even thoughts that have 
shocked the mind unpleasantly in the past, by connecting certain 
emotions with certain experiences, may go on working powerfully for 
years in what is called a “‘repressed complex’ although we have for- 
gotten that we ever had such thoughts. No wonder the ancient prophet 
warned, “Guard thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues 
of life.” We cannot change bodily conditions in a moment much as 
we long to do so; but we can put away the thought that caused the 
condition by fixing our mind on a more powerful, health-giving thought 
until the trouble-making one dies of inanition: — starved from lack of 
attention. 

Our thoughts create mental powers or mental weakness. A man 
may go to sleep with a burden of mental anxiety saying over and over, 
“How shall I ever meet to-morrow’s problems?” until he is nervously 
overwrought and mentally unfit to solve them. The same man may go 
to sleep thinking, ‘‘what a privilege and honor it is to be trusted with 
this difficult task; it is a compliment to my ability!” and lo! in the 
morning he rises with a new vigor and power which solves the problems 
easily. The difference lies in the aspect of the situation he chooses 
to think about. There is never an experience, however difficult, in 
which there is not at least one possible cheerful reflection which is the 
way of escape for us. We can begin now to demonstrate this for 
ourselves, and perhaps our faith in the power of a thought may become 
strong enough to move some age-long mountain of difficulty from our 
vision. 

Thoughts pull the trigger for ends. The easiest way to keep from 
doing something is to think of something else equally absorbing. No 
temptation to an evil act engulfed us without much preliminary mor- 
bid thinking. A temptation which comes upon us swiftly “‘before we 
thought” as we say, in reality is the natural situation created by 
thoughts that have lingered in our minds so long that they have become 
subconscious and flash out into consciousness in response to pent-up 
emotions. We store up thought ammunition for months and then are 
surprised at the mighty effect of a small word-spark which touches it 
off. 

It would be well for us if we had at least five minutes of serious 


34 THE WORLD WITHIN US 


self-examination at the close of each day, recalling the kind of thoughts 
we have been harboring, and casting away every destructive one that 
spells fear, worry, depression, Jealousy, hatred, or selfishness. Then let 
us deliberately replace each of them with its opposite creative sugges- 
tion, We should hold them all in concentrated thought, and in a 
prayer of gratitude to God who makes these life-giving realities, and 
escape from spiritual death possible. We can never get rid of destruc- 
tive thoughts by repressing them or burying them. They must be 
dragged out into the open, judged and cast out as real, but undesirable, 
enemies. Then, with a mind clear and empty, we can bring into a 
thankful heart those thoughts which bring peace, health and power. 


Our blest-Redeemer, ’ere he breathed 
His tender last farewell, 

A Guide, a Comforter, bequeathed 
With us to dwell. 


And His that gentle voice we hear 

Soft as the breath of even, 

That checks each thought and calms each fear, 
And speaks of heaven. 


And every virtue we possess, 
And every victory won, 
And every thought of holiness, 
Are His alone. 
Harriet Auber. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is 
near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: 
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and 
to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your 
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the 
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, 
and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isa. 55 : 6-9. 


Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall ee established. 
rov. 16 : 3. 


The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that 
which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth that 
which‘is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his les speaketh. 

ke 6: 48. 


And he called to him the multitude again, and said unto them, Hear 
me all of you, and understand; there is nothing from without the man, 
that going into him can defile him: but the things which proceed out of the 
man are those that defile the man: For from within, out of the heart of 
men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, theft, murders, adulteries, 


THE CREATIVE POWER OF THOUGHT 35 


covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, 
foolishness: All these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man. 
Mark 7 : 14-16, 21-88. 


Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are 
honourable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, 
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if 
there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 

Phil. 4: 8. 

We cannot always control outer circumstances but we can control 
our thoughts which create many circumstances. God made us supreme 
in the kingdom of our thoughts and therein lies our share of moral 
responsibility. Thoughts may be non-creative and center around our- 
selves, our pleasure, our likes and dislikes until like a boy with a 
nickel close to his eye, we see no horizon. Many diseases and forms of 
insanity, and a breakdown of physical vitality start in a thought life 
which begins and ends in oneself. What a change would come over us 
if our thoughts mounted to the stars and heavenly places where we 
come into the clear spaces of God. Many of us are ill because of the 
friction that results from trying to crowd down our immortal spirits 
into the confines of small bodies. The strain of keeping them there is 
too great for endurance and we break down under it. What is the way 
out? Give the mind a chance to mount up in thought like an eagle 
and stretch its wings in the heights. Any subject that is uplifting will 
take us out of ourselves; the thoughts of God as we catch them in the 
study of the stars, the wonders of physical science, and the glory of 
flowers, are some of the ways in which God meant us to stretch and 
grow. Itis sin to center thought in ourselves. Christ died to set us free. 

‘We are here and all born little, just because 

We’re here to grow. 

What is sin? why sin’s not growing; all that stops the growth within, 

Plagues the eternal upward impulse, stunts the spirit — that is sin.’’ 

Sam Walter Foss.* 

There is a connection between “works” and the control of our 
thoughts, concentration on some constructive program keeps the 
mind from being a prey to unwholesome thinking. Many invalids are 
made worse because they have no work to occupy their thoughts, 
therefore they react on themselves. Their symptoms get too much of 
their attention. With others there is another need. Their work becomes 
a burden of thought, which can only be relieved by entrusting the 
issues to God. They then find freedom from gnawing anxiety and gain 
steadiness of thought. 


*From ‘‘The Higher Catechism in Songs of the Average Man,” with permission of 
Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., Publishers, Boston. 


36 THE WORLD WITHIN US 


Jesus puts great emphasis on the relation between thought and 
character. When He says that defilement comes not from without but 
from within, He is stating a truth now admitted by psychologists. 
Even thoughts which come into the mind from without cannot do 
harm until they are accepted by the will. If they are looked at in their 
true character and rejected, they fall powerless. Many people make 
the mistake of trying to suppress evil thoughts which clamor for 
entrance. Sooner cr later they will gather enough strength to take 
possession. If they are allowed to show themselves so that they may 
be judged by the mind, they lose their appeal and the temptation is 
conquered. Unless they are so judged they come forth to create end- 
less offspring like unto themselves. Some time in the future we shall 
see scientifically how an evil thought interferes with the harmony of 
life like a discord in a symphony. We know it now as a spiritual 
experience and find ample proof within ourselves. 

St. Paul suggests that the positive thinking about all things which 
are true, and pure, and lovely as an education of the spirit, in time, 
will so refine our tastes that we shall unconsciously turn from all 
unworthy thinking. Some thoughts build strong foundations for life. 
They always create and never tear down. We undermine the wall of 
protection when we accustom our spirits to the presence of thoughts 
that are false and destructive. Sophistication may bring stagnation. 


“Let the words’ of my mouth and the meditation of my 
heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah, my rock 
(and my Redeemer.” Amen.: 


TENTH WEEK 
THE SPIRITUAL USES OF THE IMAGINATION 


The most fascinating gift of the human mind is its power of imagi- 
nation. It is a proof of our spiritual citizenship that we can shut our 
eyes to all the material phenomena about us and live, move and have 
our being in a world which we create within ourselves. In it we fight 
noiseless battles, paint mental pictures, enter upon every possible 
experience, choose what we please to think about, and create characters 
and personalities, actors in powerful dramas. Imagination creates our 
destiny of triumph or defeat. It is the most compelling and the least 
understood of all our powers. 

The materials out of which our imagination is woven come from 
that great storehouse of memories into which have been collected all 
our conscious and unconscious experiences, everything we have learned, 
our emotions, instincts, thoughts and repressed desires. We call this 
storehouse our subconscious mind and it is like Aladdin’s cave; a veri- 
table wonderland of vast possibilities. 

Every one has an “organized self”’ which is strong or feeble accord- 
ing to the sentiments and dispositions which compose it. In his book 
on ‘Psychology and Morals,” Professor Hadfield says ‘“‘when the organ- 
ized self moves toward its own completeness we call it the Will. The 
Will is the organized self in function, the self in movement.” Ordinarily 
this will is powerful, but it has its limitations because often it is unable 
to control our emotions and desires. 

It is our will, that function of our sentiments and dispositions, 
which chooses the plot of our mental drama and calls out from the 
storehouse of memory all those associated ideas which make up the 
imaginary picture. If our sentiments and dispositions are born of the 
Spirit of God, then quite naturally our “organized self” wills to create 
mental pictures which are pleasing to the God-controlled self. If our 
sentiments are unworthy, then our mental images will be unclean and 
demoralizing. 

Imagination makes a powerful emotional appeal which is able to 
sweep our will before it. Therefore the wisdom of the scriptures bids 
us, “Keep thy heart (the secret place of spiritual desire) with all 
diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” And the prophet Isaiah 
put his finger instinctively on the secret of peace when he said of God, 
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind (or OSS HOD ME is 
stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee.” 


37 


38 THE WORLD WITHIN US 


It will help us to make our imagination an ally with God for peace 
instead of an enemy, if we understand how to use this power for 
spiritual ends. It can make God’s presence real to us if we use it 
rightly and intelligently. 

A negative habit of imagination is the direct cause of much ill- 
health; especially ‘nerves’ and functional disorders. If our ‘‘organ- 
ized self”? moves toward selfishness and absorbing self-concern, so 
that we and our experiences are our chief interest, we will be tempted to 
picture things not as they are, but as a drama in which we are the 
pitiful heroines, appealing to the sympathies of the world. Many 
times we weep real tears over our imaginary woes, unaware of the 
undoing of our moral powers of self-control. Day dreams, also, may 
be our undoing. In them we create an imaginary world as we should 
like it to be, but unrelated to the actual circumstances in which God 
has placed us. We dream not in order to do, but to detach ourselves 
from our world and its challenges. Later on we realize in bitter sorrow 
that it is too late to do the work God entrusted to us, because we have 
idled the time away. 

All the demoralizing emotions which rob us of peace, health, and 
power may be replaced by other emotions which build up the spirit, 
mind and body. There are times when the circumstances of life are 
overwhelming. We face them as they are in fearsome reality. Then 
we withdraw into our inner world and fix our imagination on God and 
His assurance of strength and wisdom and courage and companion- 
ship. We visualize ourselves as adequate for everything we have to 
face on the morrow because we picture ourselves hidden in God, and 
we say, “I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me” and lo! 
our brain becomes clear and we see the way of escape. Our courage 
gives us a strength which brings us through in triumph. 

When we forget ourselves we are free to think of others. One can- 
not see those who labor on without hope, neglecting children, the 
poor, and afflicted without picturing a new world of justice and mercy. 
God has need of some imaginations which being free from selfishness 
can visualize new social conditions and work to bring them about. 
This is what is implied in the prayer our Lord taught us when we say, 
“Thy kingdom come.” The Bible is full of prophetic visions of days 
to come when deserts will blossom like a rose and men will beat their 
swords into plowshares. Well did Matthew Arnold sing: 

“Tasks in hours of insight willed 
May be in hours of gloom fulfilled.” 


There are big tasks awaiting the imagination of those who will 


SPIRITUAL USES OF THE IMAGINATION 39 


use it to develop plans to hasten the time when the will of God will be 
done on earth as it is done in heaven. We lament that there are no 
prophets nowadays. We have the power to create visions, but most 
of it has been diverted from the Divine purpose. 

As our minds remain steadfast in picturing visions of truth, and 
beauty, and mercy, and love, we shall discover that powerful emotions 
are reacting upon us, building up health, bringing in peace and draw- 
ing us into the atmosphere of the presence of God. Others will feel the 
effect of these purifying emotions and respond to them. Our strength 
will be reinforced by the strength we have kindled in them and possi- 
bilities for spiritual friendship beyond what we have ever experienced, 
will be realized. 


My thoughts before they are my own 

Are to my God distinctly known; 

He knows the words I mean to speak, 

‘Ere from my opening lips they break. J. Watts 1719, 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an 
house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. I 
know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in up- 
rightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingl 
offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, whic 
are present here, to offer willingly unto thee. O Lord, the God of Abraham, 
of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination 
of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto 
thee. J Chronicles, 29 : 16-18. 

And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and 
serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord 
searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: 
if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will 
cast thee off forever. JI Chron. 28: 9. 

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. 

Isa. 26: 8. 

For though we walk in flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 
(for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before 
God to the casting down of strongholds); :casting down imaginations, 
and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and 
bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 

IT Cor. 10 : 8-8. 

A memory which is full of inspiring mental pictures is a priceless 
treasure. All of us are influenced by the memory of certain events 
which the mind paints for us. They are more real than what is actually 
before us. In this prayer of King David he asks God to keep a certain 
spiritual vision vividly in the imagination of the people. All of them 
have had a vivid picture of a temple, which was to be built to God. 


40 THE WORLD WITHIN US 


They have created it with the eye of the mind and have given gold. 
silver and precious stones to make their dream come true. David 
knows that the people will build no greater temple than they have 
visualized, therefore he prays that their vision may not be dimmed. 
No great thing is achieved unless someone dreams it first. Every 
building is first built in the imagination of the architect before it is 
visible in brick and stone. “‘Where there is no vision,” we are told, 
“the people perish.” We have inspired moments when we see clearly, 
but the vision fades because we do not believe in it enough to part 
with our treasures to make it come true. 

An imagination which begins and ends in the mind is weakening 
to character. An artist who does not paint the picture of which he 
dreams, or a Christian who does not do the good deed his mind 
moved him to do, weakens his creative power. We lose our capacity 
to have visions when we do not take steps to realize them. We also 
become sentimentalists because our emotions, which are stirred by our 
mental pictures, have no outlet in action. 

Unless we control the use of our imagination it will enslave us. 
Self-pity, suspicion, fear, anxiety, sap our strength when they grip 
our thought. People become nervous wrecks from living under the 
spell of imaginary situations. As soon as they begin to hold the 
thought of Christ vividly before them, the sense of His understanding 
love relaxes the mind and peace comes. Marvellous cures often result 
naturally and the Psalmist’s experience is reproduced: “I sought 
Jehovah and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears” 

Holding every thought obedient to Christ is a habit of life that 
ean be cultivated. A well-bred woman does not find it difficult to 
conform to the standard of good society, nor should a Christian find 
it hard to conform his thinking to the character and standard of the 
Christ. If it is hard it is probably due to the fact that there has been 
no personal acceptance of Christ as the authority of life. One cannot 
let all kinds of mental images dwell in the mind without seeing them 
reproduced in character. When we give a guest the freedom of our 
home we do not expect that freedom to express itself in damaging 
walls and breaking furniture. It means freedom to use the house 
according to the standards of good usage. Freedom of thought likewise 
implies standards. An evil imagination is not free; it shuts itself out 
from growth and creative power, and lives in a prison house of its own 
making. 

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; 
And renew a right spirit within me.’”’ Amen. 





ELEVENTH WEEK 
RECOLLECTED STRENGTH 


A wise Christian teacher once gave this counsel to some students 
who were troubled because they could not realize the presence of God. 
“Form a daily habit of recollecting God and you will soon begin to 
realize His nearness.” In this brief reply he showed them the possi- 
bilities of memory as a source of strength. 

Memory is a wonderful provision for the accumulation of all the 
experiences of the past so that all its stored-up suggestions may be 
usable for the needs of to-day. It is also a fearful handicap to those 
who have amassed the wrong kind of experiences which come back 
later as painful reminders of folly. A continual vivid remembrance of 
all our sins and stumblings is all the punishment most people would 
ever need. 

The Bible is full of appeals to memory, and we are urged to 
strengthen every link with the past which has been good and true so 
that we may build up reserves of strength and comfort. Every day 
experiences are being turned into mere memories. The actual situa- 
tion is temporary, but the memory of it abides; therefore for the sake 
of our future peace we do well to order our daily conduct so that there 
shall be no life-long regrets. We can strengthen our inspiring memo- 
ries by recalling them again and again until they come back habitually 
when the mind is at rest. We can also starve out regretful and 
unhappy memories until they die of inanition. 

When our bodily powers are weakened and our minds are fatigued, 
we become a prey to memories that depress and unnerve us. There- 
fore it is good strategy to fix our mind on those things in life which 
bring strength and courage, in the hope that they will form the habit 
of returning to us when we need them most. 

There are certain recollections which always bring strength. 
Chief among these are the memories of joy. The wisdom of the Prov- 
erbs says, ‘“A merry heart is a good medicine: but a broken spirit 
drieth up the bones.” We are too prone to forget our past joys. One 
has only to look at the crowds on city streets to see how few there are 
who are remembering happiness. Even if we have to work hard to 
resurrect our memory of a past joy it is worth the effort, because it 
replaces leaden boots with wings and lifts us nearer to the gate of 


41 


42 THE WORLD WITHIN US 


heaven. No child of God can afford to grovel in the depths of woe 
when his sins are forgiven and his strength as is dependent on joy as 
his blood is on oxygen. 

Love also is strength. The memory of loved ones at home has 
brought buoyant energy to many a man. The letters of friends, the 
memory of loving words, the recollection of a warm handshake have 
infinite possibilities as a tonic for our strength if we bring them back 
again and again to our mind. Love can transform the expression of 
the face and bring back appetite and the zest of living. We all have 
enough memories of love to carry us through our present ills, even 
though at the moment we are denied it. “He that abideth in love 
abideth in God, and God abideth in him.” Therefore let us recollect 
love until it becomes the atmosphere of our life. 

To the spirit that is in harmony with God, the recollection of Him 
is the greatest strength. This may come through conscious prayer or 
the remembrance of some teaching of Christ which lifts us above the 
turmoil of life. If He is the undercurrent of all our thought there is 
no need to renew our strength by other suggestions. The other thoughts 
which bring vigor to the spirit will inevitably make God more real, for 
they are part of the expression of His Spirit. Too much importance 
cannot be laid on the daily reading of the Bible, for it is the soil out 
of which the sense of God’s presence grows. Many of us find Him 
dim and far away, largely because we have stored up no treasure of 
sacred truth through which He can manifest Himself. 

Nothing so squares our shoulders for courageous effort as the memory 
of another who needs our strength; a mother will go through anything 
for the sake of her child. The thought of one’s country nerves thous- 
ands for battle. The cause of the poor and helpless is all some folk 
need to bring forth self-sacrifice. No normal human being can live 
only for himself without losing health and strength. What everyone 
needs is a purpose which commands devotion. Then the circulation 
will quicken and the whole nervous system will become electric with 
new energy. Find something worthwhile to do; some cause which 
needs you, and let it fill your mind with its concerns. You will then 
discover a new spring in your step. 

The strong men of ancient days found help in the remembrance 
of the hills and far horizons. There should be some time each year 
when every human being climbs to the top of some mount of vision 
and places his soul in the perspective of far spaces. We need the sense 
of dignity and humility which comes from such experiences. The 
wideness of the sea, the height of the mountain, the length of the plain, 








RECOLLECTED STRENGTH 43 


the limitless heavens stretch the spirit to its full height. We cannot 
afford to miss the God of the open air. 

For some temperaments, beauty, color and line are like the wine 
of life. We cannot fill our life too full of these emotional experiences, 
for they create a standard with which to measure real values. 

What are your resources of recollected strength? According to 
the easy habit of your thought will the future be dark or full of light? 


Let holy thoughts be ours when sleep o’ertakes us; 
Our earliest thoughts be Thine when morning wakes us; 
All day serve Thee, in all that we are doing 
Thy praise pursuing. 
Petrus Herbert 1566. 


- FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou hast also wrought all our 
works for us. O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion 
over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are 
dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore 
hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to 
perish. Jsa. 26: 12-14. 


I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write 
it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall 
teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, 
saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from#the least of 
them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for T will forgive their 
iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. Jer. $1: 33-84. 


My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; 
and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; 

When I remember thee upon my bed, 

and meditate on thee in the night watches. Psa. 63: 5-6. 


I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is 
in thee through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us not a spirit 
of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline. JI Tim. 1 : 6-7. 


A sin forgiven is a sin forgotten. Peace of mind is impossible 
unless religious faith meets the problem of past memories. The 
saddest of these are connected with those times in our experience when 
other dispositions contrary to the spirit of Christ dominated us. 
These “other gods” led us captive. There is much talk of “irrespon- 
sibility” these days when people are in the grip of some anti-social, 
or evil spirit and are impelled to deeds which their true self abhors 
after the spell is broken. Unless a spirit is controlled by the Spirit of 
God these “other lords’ will take the reins. Every human spirit is 
under some kind of control: either evil or good. That control is gained 


44 THE WORLD WITHIN US 


at first by the consent of the spirit. Later he is helpless. Hence the 
vast importance of training children early to yield to the gracious 
Spirit of God until yielding to it becomes habitual. Fortunate are 
those children who do not have to carry with them the memories of 
immoral outbreaks to haunt them in later years. 

Out of the fearful moral chaos of the prophet’s days he sees a 
time coming when life on earth will be what it ought to be. It will 
be a time when everyone shall know the Lord from the little child to 
the greatest man and the memory of sin shall be no more. Law- 
lessness is beginning to be a vital question in our generation. How 
can we hasten the time when humanity shall be controlled by the Spirit 
of God? If we begin at the center of our influence, (our family, our 
social group, our business associates) each of us could shape the future 
of a considerable group. Have wea living experience with God 
to communicate? There are no painless methods of bringing in the 
golden age of peace. Mere intellectual discussion will not fire the spirit 
any more than an understanding of how matches are made will start 
a bonfire. The match itself must be struck and give up its life to 
start the fire. What memories need to be burned up by the fire of 
God’s forgiveness before we can even begin to bring in that day when 
God’s law shall be paramount in the heart? Tagore, in one of his 
stories, makes two of his characters say: 


*“*T only seek the result,’ said I, ‘which belongs to to-day; 
‘The result I seek,’ answered Nikhil, ‘belongs to all time.’ ” 


If we would make our personal decisions in the light of even one 
hundred years instead of merely vacillating in the midst of the present 
situation, we, too, might discover within ourselves the soul of a prophet 
and prepare the way for God. 

The hours between two and four in the morning are the acid test 
for peace of mind. The life of the spirit is renewed or undermined in 
the midnight watches. It is the easiest time for us to relax in the 
enfolding strength of God. Dr. Sadler, the therapeutic specialist in an 
important medical college, writes: ‘‘The sincere acceptance of the 
principles and teaching of Christ with respect to mental peace and joy, 
the life of unselfish thought and clean living, would at once remove 
more than one-half the difficulties, diseases, and sorrows of the human 
race. The simple habit of keeping in mind some one teaching of 
Christ for use in wakeful hours will bring peace when memories sweep 
over our spirit and the world is “‘sicklied o’er with the pale cast’ 








RECOLLECTED STRENGTH 45 


that Hamlet experienced. We can start forces of health working 
within us if we redeem our wakeful hours from despair. 

Paul reminds Timothy that there are stores of wonderful memories 
in his life which can burst into flame and become the driving power for 
his life. It is not enough to have our evil memories blotted out by 
the Spirit of God. We must provide materials for inner resources. 
A man may rejoice that he has no debts to pay, but his position is 
more secure if he has resources in the bank for the times of future 
strain. Everything that will store the memory with wisdom and 
truth and goodness can become riches for the rainy day used for days 
to come. How are we building up our spiritual resources? Save some- 
thing out of each day which has a permanent value. It will all be 
used before long for an occasion of need when we shall have no time 
to gather thoughts. Power, love and discipline are the gifts of a 
wholesome, clean memory. 


O Heavenly Father, in Whom we live and move and 
have our being, we humbly pray Thee so to guide and 
govern us by Thy Holy Spirit that in all the cares and 
occupations of our daily life we may never forget Thee, 
but remember that we are ever walking in Thy sight; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 


Ancient Collect A. D. 440. 


TWELFTH WEEK 
THE EDUCATION OF A CONSCIENCE 


We are living spirits clothed with material bodies, in the midst of 
a material world; therefore we face a perpetual struggle between 
higher and lower desires. When we bow to low desires we are yielding 
to temptation; when we turn toward high desires we are following the 
dictates of conscience. Hadfield, the psychologist, defines these 
opposing desires in these words: ‘“Temptation is the voice of suppressed 
evil when good is dominant; conscience is the voice of the suppressed 
good when evil is dominant.’”’ Back of our conscious thought, lies 
what we call the sub-conscious mind. Into that region all impulses 
and desires retire when we are not giving them our attention. Out of 
that comes reinforcement or hindrance to our higher life. 

There is a knowledge of right and wrong which is born within us. 
We do not have to argue it with ourselves; we know it by our very 
instincts. Therefore we all have some sort of rudimentary conscience 
which is the sum of all our highest desires. It pulls us up all the time 
when low desires beg to be satisfied. No one is wholly bad or wholly 
good. We are a mixture of impulses. 

‘‘Within my inner temple there’s a crowd 

¢There’s one of us that’s humble, one that’s proud; 
There’s one that loves his neighbor as himself 
And one who cares for naught but fame and pelf. 
There’s one who sits and sorrows o’er his sins 
And one who, unrepentant, merely grins, 
From such corroding care, how soon I’d fly, 
Could I but once determine which is I.” 


Everyone classifies his desires as good or bad according to his 
ideals, and ideals differ according to education, and the life of the 
spirit. A South Sea islander may have no conscience about killing and 
eating a man, because his ideals are low. A man educated in high 
ideals has a conscience against such deeds. All our sense of right and 
wrong is relative to our ideals. What is right for an ordinary man 
may be entirely wrong for a man who measures his life by the standards 
of Jesus Christ. All men have not the same conscience because they 
are not controlled by the same standards of right and wrong. Even 
among Christians there are many varieties of conscience. Each holds 
the teachings of Christ as his standard, but differ from one another 
in what they consider the most important teachings; therefore their 


46 








THE EDUCATION OF A CONSCIENCE 47 


consciences differ. Many of us rely on what we call the “public con- 
science” to keep us free from national perils, but there is no such thing 
unless the standard of education in national ideals is everywhere the 
same, 

A strong moral conscience does not exist apart from training. 
Sometimes in a family, the moral ideals of the parents are so high 
that children and relatives are lifted up to the same plane for genera- 
tions. Some ancestor who has been renowned for his moral ideals, 
and has influenced the thinking of his time, may hand down his stand- 
ards to his children’s children. Tradition and family pride become an 
inherited conscience. Thus it is possible for the conscience of one 
enlightened soul to influence thousands for good. The original leader 
made the choices and did the thinking and the multitudes accept his 
judgment and acknowledge his influence. 

This inherited conscience may lift people to a high plane of living 
or may blind them with prejudice. It is of the utmost importance that 
we examine our standards and encourage an intelligent conscience in 
our thinking and living. Paul with a good conscience persecuted the 
Christians, thmking he did God service because he had inherited his 
standards from a religious system rather than from the character of 
God. Later he was startled to discover that he was fighting God and 
goodness and that conformity to tradition could no longer be his 
conscience. ‘For me to live is Christ’’ became his ideal and because 
of this he yet towers above other men down the centuries. 

There is no education in conscience which compares with the 
study of the life of the Christ. He is the perfect ideal for the human 
life and for the revelation of God. If His followers really grasped the 
standards of His life, the whole world could be lifted, easily, up to 
a way of life which would bring in a golden age of peace. Sometimes 
national ideals are demoralizing in their effects. A “prosperity” slogan 
may lead countless people to adopt “‘wealth” as their ideal. If this 
becomes the dominant standard, a man will take every chance for 
wealth even though honesty and square dealing are sacrificed. Graft 
and exploitation may replace service and the Golden Rule and the 
whole moral tone of a country be lowered. Why then do we make this 
possible? | 

Conscience is also strengthened by good habits. A succession of 
the same choices forms a habit. Every day we accustom ourselves to 
right action we store up added power to overcome evil desires. An 
habitual desire to read good literature will safeguard us from many 
an attack of evil by a compensating interest in other things. A habit 


48 THE WORLD WITHIN US 


of taking exercise may so tone up the system that healthful desires 
will control our attention. It is almost impossible to resist an evil 
habit plus an evil desire: and the opposite is equally true. It is a good 
thing to change as many of our finest ideals into habits of life as soon 
as possible. In this way we form character; and we become what we 
desire to be. 

A good character is a protection without and within. From with- 
out, people hold us to our best because they expect us to live up to 
our character. From within, it is a shield against evil because sincerity 
is usually one of our commonest ideals and we do not like to pretend 
to be what we are not. Such a moral contradiction is sure to betray 
us sooner or later. There must be oneness in desire, habits and character 
or health is wrecked, reputation is ruined, and we lose all we have 
gained. If we nullify a good character by following evil desires, the 
sham is soon detected and we suffer for it in mind and body. 

A conscience which holds us to the ideals of Christ and is rein- 
forced by habits which correspond to those ideals is the strongest 
basis for an enduring character and perfect health. Let us do our full 
part in preparing the way for the life-giving power of Christ to give 
us perfect victory. 

“Groping dim and bending lowly, 
Mortal vision catcheth slowly, 
Glimpses of the pure and holy; 


Now, Lord, 
Open Thou mine eyes, O Lord.” J. 8S. Blackie 1876. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Not the hearers of a law are just before God, but the doers of a law 
shall be justified: for when Gentiles which have no law do by nature 
the things of the law, these not having the law, are a ries themselves. 

om. 2 : 18-16. 


Let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our 
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our bodies washed 
with pure water. Heb. 10: 22. 


Herein do I also exercise myself to have a conscience void of offence 
toward God and men alway. Acts. 24: 16.. 


For our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness 
and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we 
behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward. 

IT Cor. 1 : 12. 


Forbes Robinson wrote once to a friend, “You are born to be a 
saint, and you will be wretched until you are one. You are not the 





| 





THE EDUCATION OF A CONSCIENCE 49 


kind of man who can do things by halves.” This is true of most of us, 
but we stand a deal of wretchedness before we can organize the self 
for right living. Some people think that inherited consciences are what 
rob the spirit of peace and there is a modern tendency to consider 
conscience as an early-Victorian prudery which should be ignored. 
Paul is right, however, when writing to the pagan Romans in describ- 
ing the actual situation within the heart of every human being. Even 
the lowest of them have some elemental standard which has dawned 
upon them from experience. They have proved that certain things 
lead to life and other things lead to death. As soon as they begin to 
appraise values in life they develop a conscience; a reminder of their 
past wisdom concerning right and wrong. 

As soon as one knows the best and does the worst, be it a high or 
low standard of life, bis conscience strives to hold him to the best. 

However, the best a man knows may be evil in the light of higher 
wisdom. A garment may look white by gas light, and yet be yellow 
in the light of the midday sun. What was lawful in the Middle Ages 
may be intolerable to-day. The standards of Jesus Christ reveal all 
the grades of inferiority. An easy contentment with low standards 
in the light of perfection is morally stultifying. Why then are so 
many content with inferiority in moral standards when they demand 
the highest in education, and material living? 

Our relation to God, and to our fellows, is determined by the same 
conscience. If we try to separate the two we live in spiritual dark- 
ness. This is one of the basic teachings of Christianity. “He who 
loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he 
hath not seen.” That is the cause of much ill health to-day. People 
try to love God and hate their brothers, and the conflict of conscience 
is so nerve-racking that the body suffers. Two musical notes out of 
harmony make discord, and where discord remains unresolved, music 
is killed, and the development of symphony becomes impossible. 

What glory could be greater than this of which St. Paul writes:— 
the approval of conscience which is sincere and pure before God and 
men! What do we make the basis of our judgment about right and 
wrong? Is it the “fleshly wisdom” of those about us, or the principles 
of Jesus Christ? Is our standard “Everyone does it” or are we free 
spirits choosing what our inner spirit tells us is best? In freeing our- 
selves from an enlightened conscience do we enslave ourselves with 
the common standards of the crowd? How much is a good conscience 
worth? Jesus asked once, ‘‘What doth it profit a man, to gain the 
whole world, and forfeit his life?” (Mark 8 : 36). Our conscience is 


50 THE WORLD WITHIN US 


the high water mark of life. Jesus said, “I come that they may have 
life, and may have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Life to the full: 
that is God’s purpose for us, and the purpose for which Jesus died. 
If we regret that gift of life we abide in moral darkness, and we cannot 
expect peace, or health. Life is all too short in which to raise its level 
by the education of a conscience. There are many values yet to be 
appraised. Let us begin at the point where we are now to make 
decisions in the light of eternal values. 


“‘(Make us of quick and tender conscience, O Lord; that 
understanding, we may obey every word of Thine this 
day, and discerning, may follow every suggestion of 
Thine indwelling spirit. Speak Lord for Thy servant 
heareth, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”’ Amen. 

C. Rossetti 1830. 





THE BATTLEGROUND OF PRAYER 


THIRTEENTH WEEK 
JESUS’ TEACHING ABOUT PRAYER 


Although men have always in all ages made their prayers to the 
heavenly powers, they lived a life of fear because they were not sure 
of the nature of that which they worshipped. When Jesus came He 
said three things about God which open to all of us the possibility for 
joy, and peace, and power, and free us forever from fear, and anxiety, 
and helplessness. The first assurance Jesus gave was that ‘‘ God is 
Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in 
truth.” If God is spirit then there is no spot where He is not, and it is 
possible for Him to possess the human spirit and control it. The most 
important part of us, then, is this inner spirit. 

The next assurance we have from Jesus is that God, the Infinite 
Spirit, is Father, with all the meaning that word contains. It carries 
with it a relation of birth, an infinite caring for His children, a rela- 
tionship of love, a protection from harm, a tender understanding of 
weakness, and a training for future position. ‘‘When you pray, — 
pray to your Father,” said Jesus, and later when He talked about the 
elemental needs of our human life; — food, shelter, clothing, etc., 
He said, ‘Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things: — 
be not anxious.” 

The third teaching was in harmony with the thought of Father- 
hood. “If ye being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, 
how much more will your Father who is in heaven, give good things 
to them that ask Him?” As one thinks of all those in ages past whose 
hearts did fear and quake because they did not realize these truths 
about God, it is impossible to estimate what Jesus has done for human- 
ity in making us know God as a Father. Even now, after two thousand 
years, there are countless folk who live utterly oblivious to this mar- 
vellous truth. How it would transform the lines in human faces and 
lift the weight of fear from our hearts if we would enter upon each 
day with the glad consciousness of a Father, adequate for all our 
needs, always accessible to our spirits and ready to release the power of 
heaven in response to prayer. Let us stop here, now, and let our 


51 


52 THE BATTLEGROUND OF PRAYER. 


minds dwell on this teaching until some new feeling stirs in our hearts. 
We must live with an idea, not merely catch it, if we would know its 
creative power. Any idea lived with long enough, fathers enough 
dynamite to shake the world. The Fatherhood of God is one of those 
transforming ideas. Test it out now. Another teaching of Jesus is 
equally dynamic if we will receive it. “(When we pray say, Our Father.” 
Spirit cannot limit itself. If it blends with God it must blend with 
all other human spirits, for the life is one indivisible life. It is like the 
imagery that St. Paul, the great believer in Jesus, uses. He speaks 
of the body, and many members, each dependent on the others and 
needed by the others, with the common life holding all together. 
There could be no enmity, no wars, no cruelties, no malice if we 
believed this word of Jesus. The severest words He utters concern 
those who make it hard for others to believe in a Father God; who 
forget that they are one with all life; who refuse to forgive men; who 
do not love even their enemies; who do not pray for them. It is the 
discovery of this truth which will make over the world and bring in 
the reign of peace. Peace shall indeed be on earth ‘‘to men of good 
will” and we hasten that time in proportion to the degree in which 
we are under the influence of this teaching. Not until we are vibrating 
in rhythm with God and all humanity can we expect to release power 
through our prayer. 

Jesus also shows us the method by which prayer is answered. The 
Spirit of God, who has access to the humble spirit, uses all the resources 
within us to show us how to discover new paths to power. He works 
in our memory and from the forgotten ‘experience of the past, reminds 
us of truth that will deliver us out of our present quandaries. He 
brings back to our remembrance some word of Christ’s which lifts us 
above the influence which otherwise would pull us down. He selects 
from all the conflicting experiences which are latest in our subcon- 
scious minds, certain combinations which create a new possibility 
for peace, and health, and power. All those subconscious exper- 
iences are like the letters of the alphabet mixed up in curious com- 
binations. Our spirit may call forth a combination of letters, spelling 
some idea which enervates and breaks down our moral reserves. 
The Holy Spirit of God delights in working out combinations which 
inspire us and help us to be more than conquerors in this world. 
Prayer is the time of inner stillness when we can hear the suggestions 
of the all-knowing, all-wise Spirit of God. 

The process of finding the quiet inner room where only God’s 
voice is heard is often mistaken for prayer itself. With some of us, 





JESUS’ TEACHING ABOUT PRAYER 53 


the effort of detaching ourselves from the distractions of the outer 
world is so great that we have no strength left for prayer when we 
reach the threshold of God’s presence. Therefore we ought to create 
some environment, at least for the period of intercession, which will 
help us to get quickly into touch with God. Each of us must work it 
out in his own way, but in some way, our dull spirits must be helped 
to the utmost concentration of which we are capable, in order that 
we may not miss the limitless possibilities which are ours if we really 
pray. 
‘When the worldling, sick at heart, 

Lifts his soul above; 

When the prodigal looks back 

To his father’s love; : 

When the proud man from his pride, 

Stoops to seek Thy face; : 

When the burdened brings his guilt 

To thy throne of grace; 

Hear then in love, O Lord, the cry 

In heaven, Thy dwelling place on high.” 

‘HH. Bonar 1866. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


If any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all 
liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask 
in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is hike the surge of the sea 
driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall 
receive anything of the Lord: a double-minded man, unstable in all his 
ways. James 1 : 6-8. 

The Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in 
my name, he shall teach you all es and bring to your remembrance 
all that I said unto you. John 14: 

If ye abide in me, and my words abide i in you, ask whatsoever ye will, 
and it shall be done unto you. John 15:7. 

Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth, as touch- 
ing anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father 
which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my 
name, there am I in the midst of them. Matt. 18 : 19-20. 

And they came unto a place which was named Gethsemane: and he 
saith unto his disciples, Sit ye here, while I pray. And he went forward 
a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the 
hour might pass away from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are 
possible unto thee; remove this cup from me: howbeit not what I will, 
but what thou wilt. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: 
the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 

Mark 14: 32, 35-36, 38. 


Wisdom is a gift we may have from God through prayer. In 
having that we have most things we desire. Note the condition, how- 


54, THE BATTLEGROUND OF PRAYER 


ever: “Let him ask in faith nothing doubting.” While we are in the 
turmoil of an inner argument, double-minded in our thinking, the 
voice of wisdom cannot be heard. It is when “the tumult and the 
shouting” have died away that God has our complete confidence and 
attention. Later on St. James describes the qualities of the heavenly 
wisdom which explains why it cannot come to a debating mind. He 
says that ‘the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, 
gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without 
partiality, without hypocrisy.” (Jas. 8:17). With many folk the 
prayer for wisdom is mere petition that their own opinions may be 
victorious. They seek a divine sanction of their own point of view. 
If we tested our views by the adjectives St. James uses we might 
gain a spirit of humility which would win for us the secret of God. 

A mind which is stored with the teachings of Christ, is more 
likely to recognize answers to prayer when they come. There is no 
joy equal to those moments when the mind becomes suddenly inspired 
with the remembrance of something which answers the search for 
light. Some people have very little material in their memories which 
the Holy Spirit can use for our help. We cannot reeall what we have 
not previously learned. We need spiritual thought-forms to under- 
stand the mind of God just as we need a vocabulary to understand a 
foreigner. As St. Paul so clearly says to the Greeks, “The natural 
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are fool- 
ishness unto him: and he cannot know them, because they are spiritu- 
ally judged: (J Cor. 2: 14). 

There are two of our Lord’s promises concerning prayer which 
seem to be unlimited in possibilities. One concerns only those who 
are living in as close a union with the spirit of Christ as a branch is 
united to the vine. Asking what we will then implies what God wills, 
because the will of the branch and the vine are one. The other promise 
is in harmony with the same spirit, fer here it suggests that oneness 
with our brothers brings down the blessing of heaven. Harmony, a 
continuity of life with God and others, completes the circuit of power. 
The prayers which include both Christ and our brothers are never 
selfish and are always answered. 

Even Jesus faced occasions when it was difficult to put God’s will 
and human need first. Those sacred moments in the Garden of Geth- 
semane show us how even He was tempted to save Himself instead of 
saving others. We have a Christ who was faithful to us, and to God, 
even unto the death on the cross. He could have summoned legions of 
angels to His rescue; but, instead, He bore the strain of uniting human- 


JESUS’ TEACHING ABOUT PRAYER 55 


ity to God. Whenever we put God and others first and lose our lives 
for their sakes, we, too, find a deathless life of radiance and power. 

Prayer is a battlefield. We strive not to release the power of heaven, 
but to bring ourselves to the point of being willing to be the channel 
through which God can do beyond what we ask or think uacrreaEng 
to the power that worketh in us.” (Eph. 8 : 20). 


O Faithful Lord, grant to us, we pray Thee, faithful 
hearts devoted to Thee, and to the service of all men for 
Thy sake. Fill us with pure love of Thee, keep us 
steadfast in this love, give us faith that worketh b 

love, and preserve us faithful unto death; eid 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. C. Rossettt 1830. 


FoURTEENTH WEEK 
OVERCOMING THE EARTHLY NATURE 


So long as we are incarnate in human flesh there will be an 
earthly nature, dogging our footsteps and laying claim to our full 
attention. There is a perpetual struggle between the desires of the 
flesh and desires of the spirit. We form high resolves that the earth 
shall not enthrall us, and straightway a fight is on. 

‘‘When the fight begins within himself, 
A man’s worth something. God stoops o’er his head, 
Satan looks up between his feet, — both tug — 
He’s left, himself, i’ the middle: the soul awakes 
And grows. ‘Prolong that battle thro’ this life! 
Never leave growing till the life to come.” Browning. 


There is nothing static within us; everything is a process of growth 
or deterioration. We cannot stand still. The restless life energy of 
God within us pushes us on to new aspiration just as the sap flows 
through the tips of the branches of trees, pushing off the dead cling- 
ing leaves and reaching out to new life. If we arrest this push of life 
energy within us, we die; if we struggle on we achieve a higher, freer, 
broader life. 

The earthly nature is so obvious, and clings so closely, and is so 
plausible that we recognize it as a legitimate possession and are usually 
not ashamed of it. We go occasionally into the realm of the spirit 
and get glimpses of a great undiscovered country and then we come 
back again to the comfortable desires and wisdom of the flesh. 

“And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, 
The instruments of darkness tell us truths; 


Win us with honest trifles, to betray us 
In deepest consequence.” Shakespeare. 


It is not easy to follow the gleam when earthly interests bulk large 
in our experience. 

Here again we see the supreme triumph of Jesus Christ. He lived 
in the power of the Spirit and triumphed over the demands of the 
flesh until His being was so transfigured by the Spirit that even His 
garments shone with light. 

It was natural that He should ascend into the realm above the 
plane of earthly experience, for He had burst through the trammels 
of fleshly desires. And when He spoke with His friends about His 


56 





OVERCOMING THE EARTHLY NATURE 57 


going away He left them thrilling with a new hope. ‘Let not your 
heart be troubled — where I am there ye may be also.” 

Jesus Christ is the great reinforcement to our spirits. He has 
proved to us that the realm of the spirit is the only one for us, and 
even if we have to go through toil and tribulation, the end is worth 
all the struggle. We, too, may know, here and now, the truth that the 
followers of Jesus learned: that ‘‘the law of the Spirit of life in Christ 
Jesus ‘makes us’ free from the law of sin and death. (Rom. 8: 2). 

The freedom and triumph of our spirit over our flesh comes usually 
through prayer. Freedom is largely a matter of responding to a great 
magnetic centre of control so that the smaller magnetic centres all 
about us shall not pull us hither and yon at their will. Jesus and his 
Father God were so one that no earthly urge could bring them into 
bondage. He was free as God Himself is free. 

We, too, need this poise, this God-centre of perfect freedom. 
There is no limit to the obedience we could exact from our bodies, 
from our minds, and from other living forces in the world, if we were 
utterly willing to make God’s will our own. Without this full com- 
mitment to an endless war against our earthly nature we can never 
hope to see God working wonders in us and through us. Some of us 
are beset now by struggles with weaknesses of the flesh in which we 
may still gain mighty victories to the glory of God. We shall never 
win out, however, until we, too, like Jesus Christ, live consciously in 
the presence of God. 

The real use of an earthly nature is to serve as the gymnasium of 
our spiritual life, where we may strengthen our moral muscles and 
develop power to overcome handicaps. We gain strength through the 
conflict. Not every one of us is strong enough in spirit to lift the 
heaviest weights. We go from strength to strength. There are some 
victories we may win to-day that we were not able to win last year. 
Our bodies obey the command of the spirit better now than they did 
when we began to exercise our moral muscles. As we go on in a life 
of prayer we shall be able to work out our salvation more completely 
as God works in us to will and to do His good pleasure. 

Perhaps our faith in the power of prayer has been failing because 
results for which we have longed have not come. Does not the reason 
lie in our unwillingness to undergo the daily discipline of our wills 
and desires in small issues as well as in larger ones until we attain 
that measure of self-control which will enable God to use us as a well- 
tempered steel instrument for His delicate and difficult working. 

There is no way of escape from this struggle. Just as a garden 


58 THE BATTLEGROUND OF PRAYER 


of flowers, if left to itself for a number of years, will run to waste and 
revert to the original type, so the soul which is uncultivated and 
which follows the line of least resistance will revert to degeneration. 
It is this downward pull in life which necessitated the revelation of the 
victorious Christ to redeem us through a re-birth into a life in which 
the Spirit of God is dominant. 

Spiritual character is the product of self-denial, and self-discipline 
according to the laws of life which Jesus Christ has taught us. We 
can grow away from the earth as the flower stretches up from the soil. . 
We speak of the garden as nature, — the work of God. In the same 
way when we see ourselves growing silently but surely away from the 
earth nature, in spite of the winds of temptation, we know that a 
work of God is going on within us, that He has marked out the destiny 
of our soul and we are being transformed into His image from character 
to character. 


“Pray that he may prosper ever 
Each endeavor, 
When thine aim is good and true; 
But that he may ever thwart thee 
And convert thee, 
When thou evil wouldst pursue. 


Only God’s free gifts abuse not, 
Light refuse not, 
But His Spirit’s voice obey; 
Thou with Him shalt dwell beholding 
Light enfolding 
All things in nga why ple day.” 
F. R. L. von Canitz 1654. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for 
to will is premer with me, but to do that which is good is not. For the 
good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I prac- 
tise. But if what I would not, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin 
which dwelleth in me. I find then the law, that, to me who would do 
good, evil is present. For I delight in the law of God after the inward 
man: but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of 
my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in 
my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of 
the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
So then I myself with the mind serve the law of God; but with the flesh 
the law of sin. Rom. 7 : 18-26. 


St. Paul has given us a graphic picture of the inner struggle of 
the human soul which is torn by opposing forces, the desire to do 


OVERCOMING THE EARTHLY NATURE 59 


good and the downward pull toward evil. Every human being has 
this experience more or less. If the tension is acute there is hope 
for deliverance, but if the soul gives up the battle and goes to sleep, 
indifferent to the issues of life and death, the condition is tragic. 

Even though we, in common with every organism, reach out for 
completeness, and self-realization we may refuse to respond to these 
higher desires and yield to lower desires. There is so much in the outer 
world to appeal to the earthly side of our nature ana we are tempted 
to turn against our highest good. 


“The deep hath calm: the moon hath rest, but we 
Lords of the natural world are yet our own dread enemy.” 


There is a common attitude which assumes that following the 
highest ideal is like cultivating a hothouse flower which is not adapted 
to real life. We look at the life of ordinary men and ask whether it is 
really necessary to toil on in pain to attain a level of life which we 
cannot hold without a perpetual struggle. The modern Epicureans 
would have us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. That 
would be comparatively simple if we were sure that we do die; but 
with scientists to-day, like the renowned Flammarion and Sir Oliver 
Lodge, assuring us that there will soon be scientific proof of the immor- 
tality of the spirit, the Epicurean counsel is foolhardy. We cannot 
stand still. Life is like a winding road up a mountain. If a traveller 
ceases to climb, he slips back down into gorges where there is no horizon 
and no light of the sun. Out of the past we have come to use this 
earthly incarnation as a means of releasing our spirit for the perfect 
freedom of eternity. If we slip back into degeneration we shall be 
worse off than we are now, because we shall remember our high position 
and the glimpses of mountain tops and suffer tortures of remorse. 

Therefore we must fight for the peaks of vision. The battle is not 
against us because “the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ made 
us free from the law of sin and death;” St. Paul shouts in triumph. 
(Rom. 8:2). The discovery of that law of the Divine spirit is 
worth so much to every human being that the wonder is that any 
Christian can occupy himself with any other service except spreading 
abroad the good news of the gospel of Jesus. 

Henry Drummond once wrote: ‘The Christian is a unique phe- 
nomenon. You cannot account for him, and if you could he would 
not be a Christian.” He is the ordinary man, or woman, or child who 
sees in Jesus and the principles of His life the goal of perfection and 
clings to Him as the Redeemer of life. He proved Himself worthy of 


60 THE BATTLEGROUND OF PRAYER 


trust by laying down His earthly life on the cross, and bursting into 
the triumphant realm of the Spirit. Through Him we are born into a 
new life where, reinforced by the Spirit of God, we become new crea- 
tures and are “more than conquerors,” in the struggle with the desires 
of the flesh, ‘through Him that loved us.” (Rom. 8 : 87). 


O God, Who for our redemption didst give Thine only 
begotten son to the death of the cross, and by His 
glorious resurrection has delivered us from the power of 
the enemy, grant us to die daily to sin, that we may 
evermore live with Him in the joy of His resurrection; 
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. i 


St. Gregory A.D. 690. | 


—— - 











FIFTEENTH WEEK 
THE CROSS AND HUMAN EXPERIENCE 


Pain and suffering are universal facts of human life. Why this 
is so we do not know. Some people try to live in a fool’s Paradise 
and deny the reality of suffering; others ignore it; many resign them- 
selves to it. A few dauntless souls use it to release higher powers 
that lift them above suffering. There is pain of body because we have 
consciously or unconsciously broken the laws of health. There is 
that mental suffering because our spirit tauntingly accuses us of our 
stupidity in falling below our highest ideal. There is pain of spirit 
because we have been deaf to God’s voice and have followed the 
desires of our earthly nature. There is untold pain, too, for which we 
are not at fault: pain because of enemies; the suffering of masses 
exploited through selfishness; sorrow through death, frustration of 
hopes and ambitions, unrequited loves, wars, convulsions of nature 
and last but not least, the spirit of evil, which is dead set against 
righteousness. 

Some of this suffering we can avoid through experience, and 
divine common sense; especially if we are bent on living utterly in 
God’s power. Most of it, however, we have to live with, and struggle 
with, and perhaps in the end it may lead us to the same place where 
it led Jesus Christ. That end was a cross. The Lord of all, who per- 
fectly pleased His Father, was face to face with the hostile forces of 
the world from the moment He became incarnate in human flesh. 
There was no room where He could be born. The King sought to kill 
his infant life. His brethren did not believe in Him. There was no 
escape from start to finish. Suffering ever shadowed the Christ. At 
last He was killed by the treachery of an intimate, and deserted by 
His closest friends when He was led away by the mob of soldiers. 
He was nailed on a wooden cross like the lowest criminal even though 
the judge had said he found no fault in Him. Why could not the 
most triumphant human spirit save Himself from such a career? 

There are several answers to this. In saving others He could not 
save Himself. The Cross of Jesus Christ is the historic symbol of the 
only way in which man may be free from that adverse energy which 
defeats our holy desires. We call that energy, ‘‘sin’”’. God is an eternal 
will against sin, and there is no possibility of friendship with Him unless 
in some way we can become free from its power. It lurks in our earthly 
nature; so we must be clean from this earth mire that clings to us. 


61 


62 THE BATTLEGROUND OF PRAYER 


Jesus shows us how to rid ourselves of it. He took it upon himself 
to solve the problem. As we see Him on His cross we realize that God 
and sin met there and that there sin lost its power, and eternal free- 
dom and life became possible for us. This is no theological dogma. 
Even such a man as Oscar Wilde, burst into words like these: 
“QO smitten mouth! O forehead crowned with thorn! 

O chalice of all common miseries! 

Thou for our sakes that loved Thee not hast borne 

An agony of endless centuries; 

And we were vain and ignorant, nor knew 

That when we stabbed Thy heart 

It was our own real hearts we slew.” 
“Jesus died for all that they who live should no longer live unto 
themselves, but unto God.” 

There is also another reason why Jesus made Himself one with the 
experience of suffering humanity. He shows us how to make suffering 
an open door to power and love. People learn this slowly. A memorial 
tablet at Hull House in Chicago reveals the very heart of service in 
the lines of the poet: 


“As more exposed to suffering and distress, 
Thence also more alive to tenderness.” 


By the use of higher laws we overcome suffering and transform it 
into spiritual energies. Thus Jesus shows us how to live in triumph 
now and to buy back our wrecked humanity. 

It is useless and unworthy to try to dodge suffering; sooner or 
later it overtakes us. It is courageous to be a stoic, and die fighting; 
but mere resistance does not always bring victory, because the combat 
may be too much for our strength. Jesus’ way is the best. He accepts 
the cross as a method of pouring out sacrificial love. Then the cross 
becomes the gateway to glory, and illumines the mysteries of life. It 
is the sublime victory of the selfless principle over the self-principle; 
or finding life by losing it. Not every soldier who dies is a hero. Some 
merely die because the opposing forces are too great; but a hero is one 
who has risked life because of some compelling loyalty which is so 
dear to him that suffering counts for nothing in comparison with his 
ideal. And a hero is more likely to come through, because his ideal 
has released latent powers which help him. 

There is a subtle connection between the shadow of a cross, in our 
human experience, and the Cross of Jesus. He is the only one whom 
we can follow in implicit trust. There is no other more worthy. There- 
fore when He bids us follow in His steps and take up our cross and 


THE CROSS AND HUMAN EXPERIENCE 63 


deny self the right to live, we dare not falter. We lay down our self- 
interest, our self-ambition, all our selfish nature in the same way that 
the seed gives itself up in the ground to die. Then from us, too, shall 
come a vital new life multiplying itself a thousandfold in power and 
fruitfulness. ‘‘He that loseth his life shall find it.” 

The reason why so many of us are hobbling about with limitations 
of spirit, mind and body is because we seek every other way to power 
save the one divine way that Jesus trod; — the way of the cross. 
There are countless people who could be well if they would lose them- 
selves for others. There are thousands living in fear; so terrified by 
their own weakness and inability to cope with the cosmos, that all 
their strength and attention is absorbed by their fears. If they would 
relax and let go, accepting this cross, they would find themselves 
possessed by a power beyond their imagination. To be absorbed in 
oneself is sin. Sin is whatever separates us from God. The highest 
revelation of God we know is the Christ who laid down self for others. 
If we are to have oneness with God, we, too, must be free from self. 

All prayer that avails must have this sacrificial spirit within it. 
It is “not my will, but thine be done” which opens the soul to all 
influences and powers of God. It is this which gives us the listening 
mind, free from insistent little demands, ready to detect the loving 
purpose of the heavenly Father. 

There is a vast difference between falling back on oneself and fall- 
ing back on God. To fall back on oneself is to crumple up in weakness 
and despair. To fall back on the loving purpose of God is to find ever- 
lasting arms of strength beneath one and the realization of all one’s 
hopes. 

Why God has put a cross in the heart of human experience we do 
not know, any more than we know why he made the grass green. We 
accept it as a fact of life. Instead of quarreling with the facts, the wise 
folk are they who, looking at the transcendent personality of Jesus, 
see in Him the divine method for the perfect release of the spirit, and 
for oneness with God. 


“Lord Jesus, when we stand afar, 
And gaze upon Thy holy cross, 
In love of Thee, and scorn of self, 
O may we count the world as loss! 


Give us an ever-living faith, 

To gaze beyond the things we see: 

And in the mystery of Thy death, 

Draw us and all men unto Thee,” W.W. How 1854. 


64 THE BATTLEGROUND OF PRAYER 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he 
must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief 
priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. And 
Peter took him,*and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, 
Lord: this shall never be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, 
Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou 
mindest not the things of God, but the things of men. Then said Jesus 
unto his disciples, if any man would come after me, let him deny himself, 
and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever would save his life 
shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. 

Matt. 16 : 21-26. 


I came to cast fire upon the earth; and what will I, if it is already 
kindled? But Ihave a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I'straitened 
till it be accomplished! Luke 12 : 49-60. 


For the love of Christ constraineth us; and he died for all, that they 
which live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for 
their sakes died and rose again. Wherefore we henceforth know no man 
after the flesh: even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet 
now we know Him so no more. Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is 
a new creature: the old things are passed_away; behold they are become 
new. IJ Cor. 6: 14-17. 

The teaching of Jesus was so unlike the natural human point of 
view that even His closest friends could not understand Him. In the 
conversation with His disciples the human instinct of self-preservation 
is contrasted with the divine principle of self-sacrifice. When Jesus 
began to speak of going to Jerusalem in full knowledge that there He 
would suffer and be killed, Peter the most, courageous of all His followers 
challenged Him at once. Another conviction was also shattered. If 
a man lives according to the highest ideal, why should suffering come 
to him? It was the historic problem of Job. 

The severity of this rebuke to Peter shows the nature of what the 
Christ was facing. He was going in the teeth of all the natural urge 
of the world, and turning from the things of men to the things of God. 
From all time people have sacrificed unto God; flocks and herds, 
gold and precious possessions; in an effort to gain the approval of the 
Deity. But to lose one’s own life in order to find it; to enter into the 
law of life as the lily bulb enters through losing itself in the dark earth, 
this was the supreme revelation of Jesus. The Jews looked for a 
Messiah to reign as King, but a Messiah, — to die; this was incom- 
prehensible. Those are solemn words,— those words of Jesus, challeng- 
ing anyone who would follow Him into resurrection life to take up his 
cross also. The way of Jesus divides all men into two groups: those 
who save themselves, and those who lose themselves. It was infinitely 


THE CROSS AND HUMAN EXPERIENCE 65 


harder for Peter and the other friends of Jesus than it is for us to see 
that death unto self is the way to life. We can look back to the triumph 
of Jesus and the overwhelming victory of His method as the centuries 
show it. We know that the great ones of the world, the potent spirits, 
are those who dared to go the way of Jesus. 

It is not easy to die to self. It was not easy for Jesus. He knew 
He could never kindle the fire of enthusiasm and conquering life in 
the world until He was baptized into the death of the Cross. ‘‘How 
am I straitened,” He cries, “until it be accomplished!’’ Does this 
explain our inability to move men to seek divine life? Can it be pos- 
sible that even in us the principle of self-preservation is working? Are 
we, like Peter, reluctant to go to Jerusalem? 

St. Paul points out the motive which will make us brave in follow- 
ing the way of the Cross. It is “the love of Christ’’ which ‘‘constraineth 
us.” His transcendent beauty is too appealing to refuse. 


“For Oh the Master is so fair, 
His smile so sweet to banished men, 
That they who meet it unawares, 
Can never rest on earth again.” Barbara McAndrews. 


Therefore, because Christ died for us, we pour out our devotion 
to Him, to live for Him alone. 

A strange miracle is wrought. The man becomes a new creation. 
The old laws of life, the old downward principle of reversion to type 
inhibit His spirit no longer. ‘The old things are passed away; behold 
they are become new.” 


O Lord, Jesus Christ, our merciful and loving Saviour, 
Who didst bear Thy cross for us, help us to take up our 
cross daily and follow Thee. O Thou Who wast lifted 
up for us draw us unto Thee, that we may love Thee 
better for Thy great love to us. Lord, we love Thee; 
help Thou our want of love. O heavenly Father, 
make us to bear in our body the marks of the 
Lord Jesus by a pure and holy life. O Saviour of the 
world, Who by the Cross and precious blood hast 
redeemed us, save us and help us, we humbly beseech 
Thee, O Lord, both now and evermore. Amen. 


Dean Goulburn 1818. 


SIXTEENTH WEEK 
PRAYER AND BELIEF 


Experiences and emotion which move the heart are more respons- 
ible for our beliefs than most of us imagine. The fixed idea and con- 
clusions which make up our intellectual beliefs are like iron filings 
clinging to the magnet. They collect under the influence of domi- 
nant desires. 

When a man is moved by love, he finds it easy to believe in the 
beauty and attractiveness of the girl of his choice, even though others 
may not see these qualities in her. When a citizen is moved by loyalty 
to his country he#finds it easy to believe in its laws: if oppressed 
by the government of his native land he is suspicious of any new 
country. When we are stirred by the feeling of hatred we find it 
difficult to believe in any evidences of good. If a child has had a 
cruel human father, he finds it hard to believe in a loving heavenly 
Father. In short, our beliefs take on the color of the predominant 
emotion which has been created by some experience. Therefore in 
order to change the beliefs of people we must influence them through 
new experiences. 

In the atmosphere of prayer the strongest, purest, and highest 
emotions are created. There is no more powerful stimulus than the 
influence of the Spirit of God upon the heart. Most of our sorrows 
come because some unworthy emotion has so gripped us that the whole 
outer world becomes the personification of that emotion. We hate, 
and the whole world is hateful. We are stirred by love and everything 
responds in lovely harmony. We are happy and the world was never 
so bright. We are moved by a great loss and all the earth is empty. 

If for no other reason than to control the environment in which we 
live, we ought to cultivate a daily habit of prayer. Our happiness 
depends upon it; for if we are not swayed by God-given emotions we 
shall be under the power of the demoralizing influences which touch 
us through our earthly nature. 

Prayer moves us to reverence, and the reverent soul always receives 
the largest measure of life. “He makes me feel as though I were some- 
body, and I would do anything for him,” said a workman of his em- 
ployer —a man noted for his consideration of the sacredness of 
personality. Reverence toward God always works its way out into 
all the rest of life and belief in holiness comes as a natural result. 
That master of all apostles of Jesus understood this psychological, 


66 


PRAYER AND BELIEF 67 


fact. He wrote to one of the churches, “‘With the heart man believeth 
unto righteousness.” He also listed the great emotions that come 
directly from the heart of God to us. That which grows like fruit 
from the life of God within us, he says, is “love, joy, peace, long- 
suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, and self-control.” 

In this list we see at the beginning the three highest emotions that 
can stir the heart. Love, the unselfish will toward others; joy, the 
perfect freedom of a triumphant spirit; peace, the deep content, — 
born of perfect oneness with God which drives away all fear. To be 
mastered completely by these divine fires would be to possess all we 
need of creative power to remake life on the spiritual plane. We would 
then resemble Christ and be able to do mighty works. “If any man be 
in Christ,”’ says the same apostle, “he is a new creation; old things have 
passed away: behold all things are become new.” This is not a future 
state, but a present possibility if the fire of God’s Spirit burns in our 
hearts in prayer. We do no mighty work, because we do not pray; 
and yet this secret of power is available for anyone who will use it. 

The other qualities of spirit, listed by Paul, are those which affect 
our relationships and the experiences we meet in life. Love, joy, and 
peace flame out in long-suffering, and gentleness with others; and in 
goodness and meekness as we come in daily contact with conflicting 
elements in our human relationships. Above all we attain to self- 
mastery, to self-control; to a poise which cannot be disturbed by the 
strife of tongues. 

Out of all these dominant forces within our hearts, beliefs will 
come, mighty convictions will be born, which will remake the whole 
world; and a faith that may remove mountains. In the end we shall 
discern the heart of God and grow to be like the man whom Words- 
worth describes: 

“One in whom persuasion and belief 
Had ripened into faith, and faith became 
A passionate intuition.” 

Many of us are incapable of a profound emotion because all our 
strength has been spent in restraining evil tendencies or frittered away 
in small desires. We have become hardened, too, by our experiences. 
Many people deplore all feeling because it may bring pain or hysteria. 
The Spirit which is not poised in God dare not be swayed by deep 
emotion unless it is sublimated in service for others. With God as a 
centre we find in prayer an emotional control which fits us to use these 
creative powers of soul and have dominion over our environment instead 
of becoming the victim of it. Childlike prayer is the great safety 


68 THE BATTLEGROUND OF PRAYER 


valve for that excess of emotion which strains the health of the body 
and brings tension to the mind. The more we use it as a habit of 
life the more we know and believe in the hidden connection between 
ourselves and God. Our faith becomes reinforced by the life-giving 
power by which we are renewed in spirit, mind and body. Therefore 
as St. Luke says of Jesus, ““He spake a parable unto them to the end 
that they ought always to pray, and not to faint.” 


“O Thou, by whom we come to God, 
The Life, the Truth, the Way; 
The path of prayer Thyself hast trod, 
Lord, teach us how to pray.” 
James Montgomery. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, 
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end. 
And ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will 


hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall 
search for me with all your heart. Jer. 29 : 11-13. 


He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer 
is an abomination. Prov. 28 : 9. 


Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in 
ceasing to pray for you. J Sam. 12: 28. 


Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift 
you as wheat: but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not: 
and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, stablish thy brethren. 

Luke 22 : 31-82. 

Rejoice in the Lord alway: again I will say, Rejoice. In nothing be 
anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving 
let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which 


passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in 
Christ Jesus. Phil. 4: 4, 6-7. 


When we are convinced that God is love, we find it easy to believe 
that He can reach us with that love. A God who has thoughts of 
peace toward us will not rest until He has communicated those thoughts 
to us. Therefore it is natural that the inference should be “Ye shall 
call upon Me, . . . and I will hearken unto you.” Love always finds 
some way to bridge the distance between it and the loved one. An 
unresponsive God of love is unthinkable, for love is responsiveness. 

There is a relation between answered prayer and obedience to what 
our conscience knows to be the teaching of God. It is strange that so 
many people whose lives are far from obeying the principles of the 








PRAYER AND BELIEF 69 


spiritual life, look upon prayer as a mere business transaction, unre- 
lated to any other law except supply and demand. People seek heal- 
ing for their bodies in answer to prayer without the slightest intention 
of living for the glory of God. This is why so-called proofs of prayer 
cannot be used for argument. So large a part of the proof lies in 
those hidden values of character which cannot be weighed and measured. 
Availing prayer exacts complete surrender of the spirit. 

If it is true that one spirit in full union with God can release spirit- 
ual energy in response to prayer, then how much more may a group of 
persons fired with the desire to lift the lives of others to a higher plane 
be able to produce a spiritual effect! Jesus speaks of His immediate 
presence being where two or three are together in harmony with Him, 
and says that they shall ‘ask what they will and it shall be done unto 
them.” It is for this reason that small groups of people meeting for 
corporate prayer centered on someone whom they would bless with 
health of soul and body should be formed. Each must have complete 
trust in the others; and all must have one supreme desire. Silent 
concentration in fellowship with a group is all the more powerful because 
it is unselfish. All unite on something which is a common good for all 
or a special good for someone who needs help. We have not yet measured 
the influence of thought vibration between spirit and spirit. We 
know that it exists but do not yet understand its laws. One thing 
however is certain. The thought-form which is in harmony with the 
nature of Christ is bound to be more powerful than any other. The 
example of Jesus in praying for others gives fullest sanction. There- 
fore we may well enter into intercession; — that most selfless service 
that our soul can render another; and God will not disappoint our 
faith. 

A spirit which rejoices in the Lord is one which is full of faith. Joy 
and thanksgiving are the atmosphere in which faith abounds. It is 
well to prepare our hearts in this way as an aid to effective prayer. 


“More things are wrought by prayer 
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice 
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.” 


O Lord Jesus, teach us to pray. May Thy will be done 
so completely in us that we shall be free to serve 
others in the ministry of intercession. Amen. 


THE IRRESISTIBLE LAW OF LOVE 


SEVENTEENTH WEEK 
THE CREATIVE ENERGY OF LOVE 


Love is the mightiest unused force in the world. Everybody 
wants to be under the influence, and to bask in the sunshine of its 
presence. We all desire to consume it, but are loath to produce it. 
It cannot be stored up as a commodity; it is distilled from the human 
spirit through a process that puts to death the life of self. It is the 
most costly, vital energy that a human can create. The world can- 
not stand without it and yet it cannot be bought. It is produced 
only by the voluntary offering of oneself to be consumed and trans- 
formed into the glowing heat of love, even as the wood gives itself 
to the fire. 

The reward of giving up one’s life to love is a gift of creative 
power which is second only to the power of God. Indeed it is His 
power distributed through us to others. It gives health to the body, 
peace to the mind, and freedom to the spirit. It ends strife, softens 
enmity, outruns evil, never fails in strength. The more it spends 
itself the richer it becomes. Whatever it gives, comes back one hundred- 
fold. It is the master key which unlocks every heart, is trusted with 
every secret, inherits everything. Love creates whatever it desires 
and is never in want; it holds all hearts in friendship; it achieves what 
is humanly impossible; it upsets all worldly calculations and is vic- 
torious in all things. 

It will do us no good to sit down supinely and sigh for love. Only 
the heroic will to throw into the divine fire everything in our hearts 
which prevents love from being created within us will release this 
energy. The walls of pride, selfishness, prejudice, self-consciousness, 
fears of consequences, must be battered down by determined efforts, 
so that the waters of love may no longer be dammed up, but flow on 
into the mighty ocean of God’s creative power. Who among us is 
brave enough to give himself to a life of love — whatever it may cost? 

It is doubtful if anyone ever attained the fullness of his powers 
without the influence of love. The very conditions which are neces- 
sary to growth are created only by love. It is the great, positive energy 
which gives all who feel the effect of it, that unconquerable elixir of 


70 


THE CREATIVE ENERGY OF LOVE 71 


life. We have all had some experience with love. It brought us a 
relaxation from strain which meant freedom. It gave a rest which 
meant unimpeded action. It replaced fear with trust, and all the 
bodily functions worked for health, because nerves were not depressed 
by worry. 

One of the most beautiful gifts of love is the faith that it creates: 
faith in God, faith in humanity, faith in the purpose of life, faith in 
the possibility of a career. Love brings a new sense of value, a convic- 
tion of the vast importance of one human life, and we begin reverently 
to ask, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” as we go on to dis- 
cover hidden powers in ourselves that we scarcely expected. We are 
amazed at what love brings forth in us. 

There is also no joy or pleasure apart from love. Without joy we 
dwindle and die. Joy is the oxygen of the soul, and is itself love in the 
act of exulting over that which is beloved. All our appreciations of 
beauty in God’s world, or in people, or in books, are born of love. 
Without love Nature is dull and uninteresting, people are boresome, 
and books uninspiring. 

Love also creates unity — that blending together of varied creative 
power which, like skilful workmen, construct the beautiful temple to 
the glory of God. Without love no community of interest could sur- 
vive, no common cause be promoted. 

We have often watched love at work in the creation of personality. 
Everyone of us has felt that moulding power calling out new desires, 
greater achievements, heavenly visions, and more abundant life. Love 
has led us forth, away from our baser selves, into those spacious realms 
where our spirit stretches and grows. Few of us suspect the latent 
powers that are called out in response to someone who has faith in us. 
Love is like the sunshine and shower which calls out the fragrant 
flower from the brown seed. When St. John writes about the love 
which the heavenly Father has bestowed on us, he adds: “it is not 
yet made manifest what we shall be.” The full creative work of love 
will be finished only when we shall become like the God who loves us. 
With a goal like that, who can resist purifying himself in order to 
grow up into that likeness? 

Love cannot be divorced from God and His holy purposes without 
turning to lust and burning out in ashes of hate. It is a fearful exper- 
ience to be without love. If we sacrifice self voluntarily to be possessed 
by love we never die. If we shrink from the pain of self-crucifixion, 
the sacrifice of self will be exacted by the world just the same, but 
we shall die impotent and inglorious. 


72 THE IRRESISTIBLE LAW OF LOVE 


“OQ Love, that wilt not let me go, 
I rest my weary soul in Thee; 
I give Thee back the life I owe, 
That in Thine ocean’s depths, its flow 
May richer, fuller be.’’? George Matheson. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, 
I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 

And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all 
knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not 
love, I am nothing. 

And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body 
to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. 

Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not 
itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its 
own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unright- 
eousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; 

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth 
all things. & . 

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be 
done away: whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be 
knowledge, it shall be done away. 

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part: But when that which 
is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. 

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a 
child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. 
For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in 
part; but then shall I know even as also I have been known. But now 
abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and'the greatest of these is love. 

L.Gor, } 18. 118: 


When people seek for power they long for greater talent, or great 
possessions, in order to secure for themselves unusual advantage. We 
are not born with equal gifts. It would be a disaster if we were, for 
then all inter-dependence on one another would be unnecessary and 
we would lose interest in one another. If all were great actors there 
would be no audience. If all were qualified to teach there would be 
no schools. If all had everything they wanted in material possessions 
there would be no incentive to scientific growth or industry. It is the 
inequalities in endowment that keep the sense of need alive in us. 

There would be a sense of helplessness in humanity if there were not 
some way in which everyone could qualify for lasting influence. These 
words of St. Paul point out the way. ‘Set your hearts on the higher 
talents. And yet I will go on to show you a still higher path.” This 
way of life is the life of love. Everyone may qualify for love. The 
old man, and the baby, the rich and the poor, the wise and the ignorant. 


THE CREATIVE ENERGY OF LOVE 73 


Fach of us has at hand a power that is greater than any other power 
in the world, because it does not stop with the one who loves, but lives 
in the hearts of men. We know St. Paul is right in his teaching because 
Jesus won His place in the hearts of men by this simple power of love. 

Is not much of the pain of the world due to the exercise of talents 
without love? How often have people suffered because people of faith 
have had no tender consideration for the human heart which could not 
see what the prophet saw. How many little children have been hindered 
from coming to God by the righteous, but wnloving, compulsions of 
men of faith. What slavery in the world is exacted when love is 
wanting! What broken hearts there are in families where untiring 
service is rendered with no reward of love! What satisfaction is there 
in building up mighty institutions if they are impersonal machines in 
which no love dwells. . How barren are gifts which are mere material 
things with no glow and significance which love alone can give! Every- 
thing in life becomes hard, or bitter, or crucifying without the power of 
love. Therefore we do well to yearn for this power. 

The works of love show it to be the very essence of self-sacrifice. 
We often pray for love when what we really mean is that we wish to 
be the object of love; as though we had the right to expect that we 
should be enriched in the manner of a miser who does not realize that 
gold is valueless save as a medium of exchange. ‘‘We love God because 
He first loved us,” says St. John and the law of love is the same for us 
all. We are loved by others because we love them. Self-forgetful 
love calls forth love because our love has been planted in the soil of 
other hearts. Love never fails when we remember that our present 
knowledge is imperfect, that as St. Paul says, ‘“‘We only know bit by 
bit” and that at present we see things as in a mirror and are puzzled. 
Most of the afflictions of love come because we discover it to be human 
and not divine, we expected in it the perfection of God and cannot be 
patient with broken human reflections. 

““All loves are shadows cast 


By the beautiful eternal hills 
_ Of Thine unbeginning past.” 


We long for more than shadows; but we are not yet what we shall 
be. We can only press on, experiencing in ourselves the longings of all 
creation to gain some day the glorious freedom of the children of God. 


74, 


THE IRRESISTIBLE LAW OF LOVE 


O God, we have known and believed the love that thou 
hast for us; may we by dwelling in love dwellin Thee, and 
Thou in us. May we learn to love Thee whom we have 
not seen, by loving our brethren whom we have seen. 
Teach us, O heavenly Father, the love wherewith Thou 
hast loved us. Fashion us, O blessed Lord, after Thine 
own example Of love. Shed abroad, O Holy Spirit of 
love, the love of God and man in our hearts; for Thy 
name’s sake. Amen. Henry Alford 1810. 


EIGHTEENTH WEEK 
TRUE AND FALSE LOVE 


Love, like money, is continually being counterfeited, by those who 

desire it without having to pay its price. Therefore, one should know 
the marks of the genuine spirit in order to detect that which is false, 
although it be a close imitation. There are so many who deal in 
counterfeit love that some people never see the true coin and often 
deny its real existence. With their lips they say there is no divine 
love, while their hearts are crying for it. Self, however, refuses to pay 
the price, and strives for the effect apart from the cause. While the 
eternal struggle between flesh and spirit is waged, it may help on the 
victory if we have the common sense, born of wisdom, to respond only 
to true love and to turn away from what is false. 
-. True love swings in a limitless orbit around God the Creator of all 
life. False love spins like a top around itself as a centre. It lives for 
itself and its own gratification, while true love lives for others. False 
love is always asking, ‘(How much can I get?” while true love sighs 
with its longing to give freely to others. True love is like the living 
ozone which sets the circulation tingling with new energy. Its counter- 
feit is like a leech drawing the life from our veins until we are exhausted 
with weakness. 

Perhaps ‘the genuine ring of true love is more easily detected by 
its effect upon the growing personality. New powers, new capacities, 
and new freedom are some of the marks of divine love. We find it 
easier to do our duty and to make our contribution to the work of the 
world. We love others more; we are more conscious of all beauty and 
joy, we forget ourselves, and our comforts, in the exhilaration of living. 
If, however, we come under the influence of counterfeit love, we become 
stunted in our development, and life’s horizon becomes contracted. 
We stand aloof from others, and become the satellite of one magnetic 
centre. Soon health breaks down under the strain. Many men and 
women are suffering from nervous prostration, or anemia, and count- 
less kindred weaknesses, because they have encountered a love which 
was a blight instead of a tonic; a ball and chain instead of wings. 

One of the most subtle distinctions between true and false love is 
the important line between self-mastery and self-indulgence. Love 
must be master of self in the elemental passions of the flesh, in the 
imaginations of the mind and in the desires of the spirit. It knows 
well the difference between license and freedom. It never burns itself 


75 


76 THE IRRESISTIBLE LAW OF LOVE 


out in feeling, but rises through feeling to a high sense of its respon- 
sibility. We never needed to understand this more than we do to-day. 
So many are seeking love for the pleasure of it; the thrills it gives to 
the senses. They care not for its cost and its sacrificial nature. Then, 
some day, they want it to create for them a temple of life and dis- 
cover, too late, that what they thought was love was only a passing 
state of feeling. There is always feeling. It is the ‘infinitely more” 
that proves its genuineness. 

There is a quiet, deep faith which is the very breath of true love 
and one of its most creative qualities. ‘‘We are always at our best 
when anyone has faith in us.” After wandering about in the wilds of 
South America for fifteen years, a wreck of a man boarded a steamer 
for North America, — “I am going back to my old mother,” he said, 
“My brother cabled that she still believes in me. If I can only get 
back to her!”’ There is nothing more divine on earth than a love that 
draws one like that. It builds the waste places, and redeems lost years. 
Everyone of us has someone in the close circle of his friends who will 
never be re-created in the image of God unless we have a love that 
burns with a steady flame of faith. It is a fearful responsibility to 
begin a relation of love; because it must never fail. 

The difference between true and false love is shown by its loyalties. 
No one can discern those loyalties all at once; it takes time to know 
them. But as the days go on we shall find out whether the loyalties 
of the lover are those of self-interest or those which are true to the 
great purposes of the relationship. True love brings together those 
who feel the divine urge to create something worthy of love. 


““Meseems it renders God great joy to see 
Hands stirring after His creatively, 
Yea, that He even left a part undone 
That we might finish that by Him begun, 
And help Him with our efforts to erect 
His house, as masons help an architect. 


If this be true, that He of us hath need, 
Oh, then are we the sons of God indeed.” 


Bonds of loyalty to some creative purpose like this can never 
be broken. It is a fair question to put to love, “what is the burning 
loyalty of thy heart to which thou. wouldst also have me be true?”’ 
If there is no call to a purpose worthy of our devotion we do well to 
mark time a little longer until we know what we are following. 


TRUE AND FALSE LOVE 77 


“QO Love of God, how deep and great, 
Far deeper than man’s deepest hate; 
Self-fed, self-kindled like the light, 
Changeless, eternal, infinite. 


O wide-embracing wondrous love! 
We read thee in the sky above, 
We read thee in the earth below, 
On seas that swell, and streams that flow.” 
H. Bonar 1861. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and 
hate thine enemy: but I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for 
them that persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father which is in 
heaven; for he maketh his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth 
rain on the just and the unjust. For if ye love them that love you, what 
reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute 
your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Gentiles 
the same? Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is per- 


‘ fect. Matt. 5 : 43-48. 


But love your enemies, and do them good, and lend, never despairing; 
and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: 
for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. Be ye merciful, even as 
your Father is merciful. Luke 6 : 35-36. 


People have always thought of love as something which could be 
turned on or off as one turns a water spigot. We classify people accord- 
ing to those we like and those we dislike. We exercise love according 
to our tastes and prejudices. We love our intimates but not strangers; 
we love our country but not other nations; we love those who have 
our religious training but not those who differ from us in custom and 
point of view. We have not advanced very far from the attitude of 
the Jews in the days of Jesus who loved their own nation and hated 
Samaritans and Gentiles. Such an attitude toward life arises from a 
false conception of love. Two opposing forces cannot stream from 
the heart at the same time. The apostle James asks, “‘Does a fountain 
pour out fresh water and brackish from the same hole?” Nor is it 
possible for the vital energy of life to be benevolent and malevolent 
at the same time, without denying the rule of the spirit. 

Therefore when Jesus says, “I say unto you, Love your enemies,” 
He is not giving an arbitrary command, but is stating a moral neces- 
sity. How can anyone be in harmony with the heavenly Father and 
not be swayed by His spirit which is love! Who can limit the outflow 
of God from a life? If we are really the children of God how can we 


78 THE IRRESISTIBLE LAW OF LOVE 


have a spirit alien to the Father? “A good tree cannot bring forth 
evil fruit,’ said Jesus. How then can our Father bring forth children 
who hate. 

Note the two appeals that Jesus makes to show the reasonableness 
of the command of love. He cites the common facts of life. God the 
Creator of all who knows intimately the life of people, sends down 
the necessary blessings of rain and sun alike on all; — His enemies 
and friends. Men scoff at God and He does not strike them down. 
Every good gift is from above, “coming down from the Father of 
lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast 
by turning.” (Jas. 1:17). Could there be any wars and national 
selfishness if we were like unto our Father? Love would indeed then 
be the fulfillment of the law. 

Then, too, any human being loves the one who loves him. Even a 
dog responds to a kind master. Even our enemies, and the despised 
nations, love those who love them. What then is our claim to super- 
iority? A fuller control by the Spirit of our Father. Notice that Jesus 
says we are to be superior; not to take the attitude of the Pharisee 
who thinks himself superior. The only high circles in life are the levels 
of love. We are to be perfect as the Father is perfect. 

That is the climax of true love; to be like unto the Father. Does it 
seem an impossible standard? ‘perfect as,’”’ not in degree — that would 
be a depressing command, but in kind. To have the same quality of 
love as the Father, — that is possible for every child. Is there har- 
mony at the heart of things? Is there any strife of opposing forces 
that is keeping us from wholeness of life? Have we pet aversions which 
prevent our drawing on God’s power? We cannot expect peace, 
health, or power until there is clear right of way for the law of love. 


O God, fountain of love, pour Thy love into our souls, 
that we may love those whom Thou lovest with the love 
Thou givest us; and think and speak of them tenderly, 
meekly, lovingly; and so loving our brethren and sisters 
for Thy sake, may grow in Thy love, and dwelling in love 
may dwell in Thee; for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen. 


S. B. Pusey 1810. 


NINETEENTH WEEK 
THE COURAGE OF LOVE 


It is not difficult to be brave when we have full understanding of 
a situation. It is the X in the equation which terrifies. The danger 
which lurks in the dark brings fear. One of the sublime qualities of 
love is its courage. Why should it not be so? It has already crucified 
itself in order to live, therefore what more can it fear? 

We are face to face with the ultimate test of our sincerity. Is 
there any real love in us? ‘There is no fear in love: perfect love 
casteth out fear;’’ writes the one who knew Jesus Christ most inti- 
mately. How this contradicts our daily life! We have fears of what 
the future may bring; fear for our friends, fear of poverty, and want, 
fear of sickness and death. Most of the physical disturbances which 
end in disease are a result of the spirit of fear. We have tried to rid 
ourselves of this haunting spectre, but no mental reassurance comes. 
What is the trouble? It is because we do not love and trust the pur- 
poses of our Heavenly Father, by whose will we came into life, and by 
whose will we are held in life. If we love all the gifts of life which God 
showers on us, why should we not love more dearly the Giver of all 
good gifts. ‘“‘We love Him because He first loved us,” says the close 
friend of Jesus again. There is evidently some hindrance within us 
which prevents the spirit of love from being perfect, and freeing us 
from all fear. Why not take the path God meant us to walk in, and 
break down the barriers between us and self-forgetful love? It will 
displace fear as surely as the rising sun dispels the mists in the valleys. 
We shall begin to feel the difference in our bodies and minds and new 
health will be ours. 

When fear is routed, courage comes, and grows from strength to 
strength. When we are gripped by fear, our vision is narrowed down 
to the object of our fear and we become blind to everything else 
except our obsession. When love casts out fear, we are able to take 
a long look ahead. That which loomed so big in our sight seems ridicu- 
lously unimportant.in the light of future happenings and past events. 
A courageous love ransacks all of life to find reassurance, and is never 
disappointed. That is why a vacation from work does one so much 
good. It helps one to detach himself from the anxieties of work and 
the new perspective brings courage; and courage creates health of 
mind and body. It is easy then to see the relation of our experiences 
to God’s far-reaching purpose. “AJ/ things work together for good to 


79 


80 THE IRRESISTIBLE LAW OF LOVE 


them that love God.” If He is supreme in His world and is our loving 
Father, no evil can befall His children. All must be right even though 
it seems to be wrong. 

Courage is the essence of sacrificial love. The battle for truth 
could never be won without it. It is only by struggle that we lift our- 
selves to higher planes of living and thinking. It is not possible to 
call off the fight without becoming effeminate. There is always some 
truth, dimly discerned, which shines brightly only when we love it 
to the extent of laying down our lives for it. Every truth which has 
pushed the world on to higher achievement has risen from the sacrifice 
of multitudes. 


“Twas out of time thou camest to be ours, 
And dead men made thee in the darkling years; 


And all thy virtues spring like flowers 
Thick on the field of some forgotten fight.” 


It takes courageous love to face the discipline of life. Courage 
feeds on difficulty. Obstacles become the challenge to courage and 
call out valiant strength; a football team needs an opposing team 
to bring its powers into action. Pain calls forth the prayer of faith. 
If we were not ill there would be no way of proving the skill of the 
Great Physician. The discipline of daily life is God’s chosen way of 
building character. In reacting from something we do not like we 
lay hold the more firmly on the ideal love has created. We loath 
selfishness when we have to live near some selfish soul. It is by the 
law of contrasts that our appreciations develop. We realize whiteness 
only by contrasting it with gray. The blue sky brings out the green 
fields. If the world were colorless there would be no artists; if life 
had no conflicts of ideas we would never discern the truth. We stretch 
our souls and grow by the daily choices we have to make between 
ideals. If we choose high ideals, we will need all our courage in the 
struggle to grasp them. . 

Therefore we should expect obstacles to be the normal condition 
of life. If we say, as we often do, “I am weary of struggling,” it is 
because we are resisting the outflow of sacrificial love and courage and 
are sinking down to the lower levels of self-desire. Instead of quarreling 
with this inevitable law of life we must accept the situation, and find 
through ceasing to resist, a new consciousness of God’s strength which 
can only manifest itself in our weakness. There is a strength which 
comes when we allow ourselves to be carried on the river of God’s 
power and cease going against the stream. If we fall back upon Him 


THE COURAGE OF LOVE 81 


in confident love and courage, we find that all things do work together 
for good for the carrying out of a purpose beyond anything we could 
plan for ourselves. 


“Thus would I live; yet now 
Not I but He 
In all His power and love 
Henceforth alive in me.” 
Latin. W. L. Caswell 1858. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, 
son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto Him, Yea, 
Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto Him, Feed my lambs. 
He saith to him a second time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? He 
saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith unto 
him, Tend my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of 
John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the 
third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto Him, Lord, thou knowest 
all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my 
sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou 
girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldst: but when thou shalt 
be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, 
and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. Now this he spake, signifying 
by what manner of death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken 
this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple 
whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned back on his breast at the 
supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee? Peter therefore 
seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith 
unto him, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow 
thou me. John 21 : 15-22. 


Some days earlier in the life of Jesus, when He told his intimate 
followers that He was going away and that they would not be able to 
follow Him much longer, Peter, burning with devotion for the Master, 
asked impatiently, “Why cannot I follow you, just now? I will lay 
down my life for you.” Jesus replied, ““Lay down your life for me? . 
before the cock crows you will have disowned me thrice over’ (John 
13 : 87-88). 

We all know the history of Peter. His love, which was an intense 
emotional expression, could not stand the test when the Master he 
loved was in trouble, and unpopular with the multitude. It takes 
courage to love. The saying goes that trouble comes, then one dis- 
covers his real friends. ‘“The friend in need is the friend indeed.’ 
The joyous emotion of love is a health-giving elixir of life. Everyone 
loves the feeling of love; but there is a time when love and thrills 
part company and the true sacrificial character of love is revealed. 


82 THE IRRESISTIBLE LAW OF LOVE 


How much of our love is based on feeling, or on the approval of an 
observing world? Can it live in the dark? Can it give itself freely 
even unto death? Is love only possible when it seems worth while to 
love? Peter learned these truths in sorrow. He discovered that love 
has to be a courageous thing. 

Now after his disappointing experience with himself, Peter had 
an unexpected meeting with his Master. He had gone back to the 
common avocation of fishing in reaction from the tumult of emotion; 
and the love of the Master finds him there. Jesus showed him that no 
experience, or denial, can cut off the life of love. Peter wanted so 
much to retrieve his past disloyalty that he plunged into the water 
to get quickly to his Master. Then they talked it over. 

Peter might have forgotten the word of Jesus if He had not empha- 
sized three times the only proof of love. Service, service, service! 
All the declarations of devotion are meaningless unless there is service. 
Love remembers, too, that the helpless little lambs, and the foolish 
sheep belong to the one that is Lord, and the care is all the greater 
because love is expected to be faithful. It was the sin of Judas that 
he took advantage of his intimate knowledge of Jesus’ whereabouts to 
betray Him to enemies. The man who robs the orphan of his intimate 
friend is lowest in the scale of robbers because he has reviled love. 

It takes courage to carry the burdens of love. That is why so few 
of us cultivate the spirit of hospitality. ‘‘Don’t get involved in friend- 
ships or you will get into trouble’ is the counsel of the world which 
lives on emotions, but is afraid of service. We may follow this counsel 
when we are strong and self-sufficient, but sooner or later we, too, 
shall need love. Happy is that man or woman who ‘receives full 
interest on what has been given in sacrificial service to their friends. 
But if it does not come, what then? Untold treasures are ours in the 
life that is just beyond the vision of our mortal eyes, because our love 
has been like that of Christ who went calmly to His Cross, with the 
courage of God, deserted by those same foolish sheep whom He had 
served, but living in the conscious approval of God who said, ‘‘This 
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 


O God, who hast commanded all men to love Thee, 
and hast drawn them to Thyself by Thy mercy and 
goodness; fill our hearts with the love of Thee. We are 
weak and sinful, and cannot love Thee enough without 
Thy help. All our desire is to give Thee the service of 
loving hearts all the days of our life, and to love Thee 
throughout the ages of eternity; through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. (The Narrow Way, 1869). 


TWENTIETH WEEK 
THE RELATIONSHIP OF LOVE 


It is significant that the most courageous and militant of all the 
apostles of Jesus should have written that immortal classic on love. 
In his efforts to describe it Paul rises to height after height until at 
the end he exclaims breathlessly, ‘‘Love never faileth.’”?’ How then 
dare anyone suggest that there are limitations in the life of love! 

There are no limits in the expression of love; in the relationships 
of love there are inevitable bounds. There is no point in experience 
where true love fails in its expectant faith. It may have to forgive 
seventy times seven the same sinner, but it always says to itself, 
‘‘while there is life there is hope. Perhaps this time he will not fail 
me.’ Where would any of us be if we did not know that this unend- 
ing, hopeful faith is the kind of love God has for us! We would be 
desolate if we were not sure that His mercies fail not in spite of our 
many offenses. Love dare not fail in its faith or there is no hope for us, 
and no hope for those whom we love. Much of the sorrow in this world 
comes because we love others conditionally while beseeching God to 
love us unconditionally. 

Love never fails in its protecting influence. The one who is loved 
may wander far away and voluntarily choose to separate himself from 
the shelter of love, but time and space are not realities. A living spirit 
does not regard them. Wherever the wanderer may be, he is never 
beyond the reach of love, nor can he shake off its protecting influence. 
Love must have this quality if it comes from the heart of God. 

Love can never fail in patience; it has no time element. If it has 
limits it is not divine. we 

“T count no time the Shepherd gently answered 
As thou dost count and bind 


The days in weeks, the weeks in months, 
My counting, — is just until I find.” 


There is also another sense in which love never fails: its honesty 
and truth abide forever. There is very little human love which rises 
to this divine height, because it entails the utmost of self-sacrifice. 
The kind of love we know is too often silent or sinks to the level of 
criticism, which is discernment without love. God never fails us in 
the love which longs to free us from all blemish so that we may shine 
in radiant glory in His presence, The great reason why we fail others 


83 


84 THE IRRESISTIBLE LAW OF LOVE . 


in honesty and truth lies in our unwillingness to apply the same 
standards to ourselves that we expect of others. Thus we stand silent, 
and fail in our love for others because it condemns ourselves. He who 
is not honest toward God cannot be honest toward his friend. 

Love indeed never faileth, but it is limited often in its relation- 
ships. It is never perfect unless there is complete oneness between 
two spirits, because love always has a goal: — the heart of another. 

If there is evil in the heart of the one who is loved, the creative 
power of love is inhibited. Light and darkness cannot mingle. What 
does it avail to know that God’s love does not fail so long as we fend 
it off with an unworthy spirit. When love becomes degraded to passion 
it also loses its divinity and in the end turns to hatred. An evil heart 
cannot know love. 

There are also the inexorable standards of love which must be 
maintained if the divine energy is to continue. Love must be able to 
respect the standards of the loved one or the relation of love ceases, 
and pity takes its place. This is the great reason why love at first sight 
cannot be trusted. It takes time to know those standards and loyalties 
of heart which condition unfailing love. When we fail to live up to 
the highest ideals of the heart that has sacrificed itself in our behalf, 
we cut the connection between ourselves and the limitless resources 
of strength in our friend. 

True love can be limited by cowardice of heart. It may degenerate 
into sentimentalism if it does not hold itself under discipline and 
self-control. It cannot follow blindly the leadership of another unless 
that leadership is true to the laws of God. Free lance love which does 
not move in conformity to those principles of life which have been 
revealed to us by Jesus Christ will turn to lust; and, in the end, to 
death. 

It is because of all these limitations that our ideals of the life of 
love are blurred and we miss the miracle of its creative power. There 
is no limit to what God can do through a life that loves to the utter- 
most. It becomes a channel for infinite good to others. It is like the 
river bed through which the waters flow bringing life to the parched 
ground and quenching the thirst of many a traveller. Everything it 
touches lives in new vigor; the waters flow from the spring of God’s 
love and never fail in drought. They give themselves to everything 
that has need. Such a life is never in want; it is never lonely, for 
multitudes bless it and believe in our God who is love. 


“My heart is weak and poor 
Until it master find: 


THE RELATIONSHIP OF LOVE 85 


It has no spring of action sure,— 

It varies with the mind: 

It cannot freely move 

Till Thou hast wrought its chain; 

Enslave it with Thy matchless love 

And deathless it shall reign.””’ Matheson. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we 
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath the world’s 
goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion 
from him, how doth the love of God abide in him? I John 3: 16-17. 


There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear 
hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love. , 
I John £2? 18. 


Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man 
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the 
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of 
the life, i is not of the Father, but is of the world. J John 2 : 15-16. 


If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he 
that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom 
he hath not seen. And this commandment have we from him, that ha who 
loveth God love his brother also. J John 4: 20-21. i 


For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: iid his 
commandments are not grievous. J John 6: 


All the relationships of love follow the ideal of our great relation 
to Jesus Christ. When He laid down His life for us, He transfigured the 
meaning of love for the whole world. Since then all lower forms of love 
have had to hide themselves under other names, or be lifted up to the 
spiritual standard of Jesus. At the heart of the relationship is the 
sacrificial principle; living not for our own desires, but for the good 
of others. Ourselves and our goods for the good of the world. We 
brought nothing into the world and we take nothing out of it save the 
flame of love, therefore we are mere stewards of temporary resources 
for the needs of others. We are distributing centres for the love of 
God, in order that men may see through our life with them what life 
with God is like. 

The life of love is a life without fear. Very few of us know what 
this is by experience because so much of our conception of love is 
concerned with what others feel toward us instead of what we feel 
toward them. When love is feverish desire for self-satisfaction there 
is well grounded fear lest it be denied us; but the perfect love which 


86 THE IRRESISTIBLE LAW OF LOVE 


gives without thought of return can have no fear. We may ask our- 
selves whether our love is an anxiety or an asset. 

In a closer sense the love of the Father and love of the world can 
have no fellowship. It is not the material world that is meant, — the 
handiwork of God; but the devotion to the things of sense, what our 
eyes covet, and the worship of position and power. These deaden the 
life of the soul and enslave it with the absorbing interest of the passing 
show. Love is turned to lust and the relationship with God is broken. 

Our human connections with our brothers are the laboratory tests 
of our spirit. If love is real, it will be mirrored in those about us. 
What we are will be reflected back from human hearts. 

‘A love that gives and takes, that sees the faults 
Not with flaw-seeking eyes like needle points, 
But loving, kindly, ever looks them down 
With the o’ercoming faith of meek forgiveness; 
A love that shall be new and fresh each hour, 
As in the golden mystery of sunset, 
Or the sweet coming of the evening star, 
Alike and yet most unlike, every day, 
And seeming ever best and fairest now.” J. R. Lowell. 


An utter committal to the life of love is the only possible course 

for those who want the friendship of God. ‘This is my command- 
ment,”’ said Jesus, “that ye love one another as I have loved you. . . 
Ye are my friends if ye do the things which I command you!”’ There 
is no choice open. We either are or we are not in harmony with heaven. 
If we are, all things are possible; if we are not, nothing can come to 
fruition. 


O God, who has taught us to keep all Thy heavenly 
commandments by loving Thee and our neighbor; grant 
us the spirit of peace and grace, that we may be both 
devoted to Thee with our whole heart, and united to 
each other with a pure will; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. Leonine Sacramentary A. D. 440. 


a a 





FINDING OUR WAY IN LIFE 


TwENTy-First WEEK 
INEVITABLE LIMITATIONS 


_ A human being cannot be at peace with God or himself if he has 
nothing to do but to satisfy his own desires. Health also is at stake. 
There is a lingering sense of importance in everyone. We are happy 
and well only when we know that we are needed for some purpose. 

The reason why many older people lose their health so rapidly is 
because the career which demanded the strength of a man in his prime 
is no longer possible and he fails to find another field of service which 
furnishes scope for his riper powers. The wise person foresees that 
critical moment and plans for it so that his sense of vocation is never 
lost. The peril of wealth lies in the fact that it frees people from the 
necessity for work. Then things may become so absorbing that inner 
resources are neglected and health breaks down. It does not occur to 
many such people to use their resources for great service. Many people 
are ill to-day who would be well to-morrow if some big responsibility 
dropped down upon them and there was no one else to carry it. 

To realize that we are necessary for some important service is the 
greatest tonic for health. A drifting life runs downstream and is a 
perversion of God’s purpose. He never brought anyone into life with- 
out some clear intent. Some of us, however, are like children, stopping 
along the way to play marbles, forgetful of the errand on which we 
were sent. Some day we shall have to render an account of ourselves. 

We may be willing in spirit to go anywhere or do anything, but when 
we begin to think of what we may do, we find certain inevitable limi- 
tations with which each of us must reckon. So many of us lose time 
by refusing to accept our limitations, only to find in the end that we 
have to accept them. Meanwhile we have lost our running start for 
success. What baffled hopes we would spare ourselves if we had faced 
the moral situation in the beginning and weighed all the facts! 

The law of cause and effect works inevitably in the making of our 
career. Two children start in school; one does faithfully the daily 
task, the other cares more for fun. Slowly but surely, the conscientious 
student develops a taste and a capacity for brain work which will 


87 


88 FINDING OUR WAY IN LIFE 


guide him to some career only possible for trained minds. The fun- 
loving comrade will be far removed on another trail which leads to 
work of a different sort. In the same way one who has interests and 
resources within himself will be puzzled to know which way to take 
because there are so many alluring paths. It is as inevitable in the 
mental world as in nature that we reap as we sow; that our possi- 
bilities or handicaps in work are the natural results of the small choices 
we have made. 

Most of our air castles and day dreams are unrelated to our present 
circumstances. The lure of the unfamiliar holds us under its spell, 
and we are sure that somewhere, anywhere, — save where we are now, 
— we shall find our heart’s desire. It is right to cherish a vision, but 
let us look at that vision in the perspective of to-day, with the oppor- 
tunities God gives us now. In other words a vocation will be the 
outcome of past preparation and background. Even now I am forging 
another link in the chain of my vocation. ‘“To-day if ye shall hear 
his voice, harden not your hearts.” It is not our circumstances them- 
selves but that part of them to which we pay attention which deter- 
mines our future. A career or ill-health hangs in the balance with 
some of us. Let the imagination center about the possibilities of to-day 
rather than the hopes of to-morrow. To-morrow grows out of to-day. 
Most of the daily events will be small and seem insignificant, while 
the big ones will be few and far between. It is good that this is so; 
for through small events we can be masters of our destiny. 

* We see this truth so clearly in lives like that of Abraham Lincoln. 
No one would have envied him his chance in life when he lived in the 
little log cabin; but every one would indeed be proud to hold the place 
in the hearts of the world, which he holds. It was not the call of the 
war which made him great, but the unfaltering obedience to his 
highest instincts, and “the next thing,” from his boyhood up, that 
determined his future. 

No one can realize his ideals by a single leap. If we set our hearts 
on a certain goal, we must count the cost of attaining it; and then be 
willing to conform the last detail of our daily living to that end. The 
attainment of our heart’s desire means utter sacrifice and the uniting 
of all our powers in the quest. 

It seems absurd to suggest that any service we choose should be 
big enough to compel all our enthusiasm. One cannot go about casu- 
ally, when God’s plan is to be carried out. Such modern Micawbers 
lose the whole meaning of life. “Waiting for something to turn up” 
usually means following our wandering desires. We need to see our- 


INEVITABLE LIMITATIONS 89 


selves in the perspective of eternity. It will help to steady our think- 
ing if we ask ourselves this question, ‘“‘What difference will this make 
one hundred years from now?” Some things that we think important 
will dwindle to a vanishing point in the perspective of a century. 
Other purposes will deepen, and be more satisfying as the years go 
by. We need to ask also, ‘Does this life which I am living now 
satisfy only one side of my nature, or does it stimulate and call out 
my latent powers and ideals?” 

As we grow older, it takes more to satisfy us; and we revise our 
scale of values. Therefore, if we want joy to come with the years, we 
should not take any path which does not lead to higher levels, and 
further views, and clearer air. If any one who reads this, says sadly — 
“Tt is too late. I have lost my opportunity,’’ remember that to-day is 
still ours and we can redeem it and start new influences working in 
our behalf. Now is the day of our salvation. We can yet say of God, 
“He restoreth my soul.” 


“Thou art my Way; I wander, if Thou fly; 
Thou art my Light; if hid how blind am I! 
Thou art my Life; if Thou withdraw I die.” 
Francis Quarles. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bonds of wickedness, 
to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that 
ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that 
thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the 
naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own 
flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing 
shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; 
the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward. And if thou draw out thy soul 
to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in 
darkness, and thine obscurity be as noonday: and the Lord shall guide thee 
continually, and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and make strong thy 
bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, 
whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee, shall build the old 
waste places: thou’ shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; 
and thou shall be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths 
to dwell in. Isa. 58 : 6-8, 10-12. 


There is no more beautiful description in literature than this 
unfolding of the path which leads to life. It begins in unselfishness. 
It is the spirit of St. Paul, who said, ‘‘we that are strong ought to 
bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves.” (Rom. 
15: 1). Social service is the Christian program. It is not the way of 


90 FINDING OUR WAY IN LIFE 


the unregenerate world. That is ruled by the law of the survival of 
the fittest. The Prophets preached a God who meant the unfit also 
to survive. The old supremacy was based on physical strength and 
material possessions. There is much of that pagan point of view still 
left, even among cultivated people. The new supremacy, based on 
mind and spirit, is independent of material advantage, and may be 
stronger without it. Jesus saw in every human spirit, the image of 
God; and therefore each had a claim on every other child of God. 

The magnitude of the program of service is enough to furnish a 
career for every Christian. Nearly two thousand years have passed 
since Christ walked the earth and yet the larger majority of the 
human race are in bondage of one sort or another. The hungry, the 
poor, and the naked, abound. Even some of the so-called ‘‘service’’ 
is founded on selfishness and greed. The superman, the composite 
of countless folk whose oneness is the desire to gain rights by the old 
law of might, stalks through the land. There are great careers waiting 
for those who will follow the narrow road which leads to life. 

Many of us seek in our inner life the presence of our Lord and 
forget that the promise is for those who are going out into the world 
to work among their fellows. We cannot hide ourselves from our own 
flesh and expect a private illumination of the face of God for our enjoy- 
ment. ‘Jf thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, . .. then shall 
thy light rise in darkness . . . and Jehovah shall guide thee contin- 
ually.” “God so loved the world that He gave” — and we too must 
give to the world if we would have the privileges of sonship and love. 

The logical reward of service is an endless supply of the means of 
service. To be a spring of never failing water, — the refreshment of 
all thirsty souls, without effort! There is something wrong about the 
service that drains one dry. Perhaps we cut our connection with the 
Si while we are occupied with ‘many things.’ Only life can beget 
ife. 

To find one’s own path, by restoring paths to others is the per- 
fection of a career. What a constrast to the end of the exploiter whom 
Isaiah describes a little later! They who “made them crooked paths.” 
Their end is a cry of remorse. “We grope in the twilight; we are in 
dark places like the dead”: — the logical end of moral atrophy. If 
people mean to live in darkness, eyes are superfluous: therefore Nature 
takes them away. Neglecting to choose the path of light, the soul 
inevitably walks into darkness. ‘I am the real and living way,” said 


Jesus: ‘“No one comes to the Father except by means of Me.” John 14: 
6 (Moffat translation.) 


INEVITABLE LIMITATIONS 91 


Lord Jesus Christ, who alone art wisdom, Thou knowest 
what is best for us; mercifully grant that it may happen 
to us only as it is pleasing to Thee and as seems good 
in Thy sight this day; for Thy name’s sake. Amen. 


Henry VI, A. D. 1421. 


'TwENTY-SECOND WEEK 
MAKING DECISIONS 


Sometimes a remark overheard on the street tells a whole life story. 
A man on the street was replying to some mental anxiety in his friend, 
“Come on, be a sport; life is only a gamble and you jump in the dark. 
Take your chance without so much thinking and you will come out 
all right.”” As they turned the corner, questions suggested themselves. 
“Ts it true that life is so full of surprises that it is a gamble? Are care- 
ful decisions useless? How is one ever to know that he is on the right 
track?” 

The answer to these questions will make a vast difference to some 
of us. Even if we are so purblind in vision that we cannot reckon with 
certainty upon the next hour, we should be without sense if we did 
not have some principles by which to steer our course. 

People face their responsibility for making decisions in different 
ways according to their temperament. There are some like jellyfish 
with no backbone, who go with the tide. They follow the crowd wher- 
ever it chances to go. Their happiness depends upon the will of some- 
one else who plans their life for them. This flabby attitude is often 
developed in a child by a parent who never lets him think for himself 
because he might do something foolish. He probably will; but how is 
he to learn except through experience? Failures are blessings in 
disguise if they lead us to wisdom. Some of us are still missing the 
will of God for us because we find it easier to lean back upon some 
venturesome person who says without a moment’s hesitation, ‘Yes, 
this is the thing to do.” 

Others feel keenly the need for making choices, but are in a per- 
petual state of indecision. Sometimes this results from sheer mental 
laziness, but oftener it is because they lack courage to face conse- 
quences. Nothing reacts on the nervous system more than anxious 
uncertainty. We may be losing our health from this cause, imagining 
that outer circumstances, and not our own divided minds, are to 
blame. The apostle St. James said of the double-minded man, ‘Let 
not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.” 

Some of the most unhappy people are those who have the type of 
mind which always regrets the decisions of the day before. “I wish I 
had not promised to do that,” or “TI should have chosen this.” Such 
an attitude denies the guidance of God. Decision of character in the 
light of all possible wisdom at the time, is essential to peace, health and 


92 


MAKING DECISIONS 93 


power. There is sufficient wisdom for the needs of the day if we ask 
in faith. God did not make us omniscient. We attain more and more 
through the honest use of our discernment. 

Why should we have been given brains, and the power of think- 
ing, if life is merely a gamble and we cannot make choices which will 
in the end control circunistances? The creative power in each of us 
has never been tested to the full. God works within us. His guidance 
of our days is the result of His Spirit working through the mental 
processes of our brain. 

It is never possible to see the results of our decisions at once. If 
we did see them we would be divinities. We walk by faith. We always 
have enough light to see the next step. What is that light? It is the 
consciousness of what is true, beautiful, good; like unto the character 
of God, in harmony with what we know is His will. We follow that 
gleam, that standard, which we know is His, and we never have to 
regret such decisions. 

The guidance is not always the same for everyone, because we all 
have different gifts and desires, and no one can work our life out for 
us. We ought, though, to be able to defend our position to reasonable 
people. If so, it may be for our good to oppose the inertia of our 
friends. There are many human tragedies lived out by men and women 
who have been prevented by their families from making choices which 
affect their whole life. A brilliant lawyer destined his only son to 
succeed him in his profession. The boy had not the courage to disap- 
point him and labored on with his studies. To the public, he seems 
like a mediocre half-awake son of a successful man. Some of his 
friends, however, know the real truth. They are invited to his home 
where he entertains them with his violin. When he gets it into his 
hands, he is aman of power. He still follows monotonously the career of 
his father; but the world has lost a great musician. 

Our ability to make wise choices depends upon our power to 
think. To hold in our mind all the points in a situation, and to look 
at their worth and then decide which shall be our chief concern, this 
is the highest art. We cannot prove our power to think until we can 
see clearly that there are always two sides to a question. No one can 
get far in thinking who forgets this. And yet there are thousands of 
people with fine minds who never get beyond their original opinion. 
They depend on what they experienced in the past and have no hope 
and faith for the future. 

Some people can transform their whole lives if they form a large 
unselfish purpose. If we are clear in our minds about the chief end of 


94 FINDING OUR WAY IN LIFE 


our desire, then quite naturally, many things are settled for us. This 
is illustrated in the history of countless people. A boy who had been 
unstable in his ways, suddenly faced the duty of caring for his widowed 
mother. He found a job and went at it with a new purpose. In a 
short time all his life was organized around this central idea. His 
purpose brought poise, business success, and a reputation for stead- 
fastness. 

A purpose will not go beyond the stage of a day dream, unless it is 
backed up by our will power — as soon as we begin to use this we shall 
find a great wall of inertia rising up to prevent us from reaching our 
goal. Until we push through we shall never find freedom. 

There is some moral decision every one of us needs to make. God 
waits for us to take a new step away from the fears and discourage- 
ments of the past and turn our faces toward a new future, bright with 
hope and faith. 


“The trivial round, the common task 
Will furnish all we ought to ask, 
Room to deny ourselves, a road 
To bring us daily nearer God.” 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 

He leadeth me beside the still waters. 

He restoreth my soul: 

He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil; for thou art with me: 

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: 
Thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: 
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psa. 23. 


There are people, even in this age, who read the opening words of 
this Psalm and would accuse King David of sublime egotism. Jeho- 
vah, the Creator, who inhabits eternity and sets the stars whirling 
in space, the Mighty God, becoming my shepherd, guiding the infini- 
tesimal footsteps of little me who am less than an atom in contrast 
with the universe! The conception is so stupendous that, even after 
centuries of Christian teaching, many minds laugh at its absurdity. 
Névertheless the faith of David has been more than justified by the 
prayer of Jesus when He said, “I pray for them — that — even as 
Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in us: 


MAKING DECISIONS 95 


that the world may believe that Thou didst send me” (John 17 : 21). 
If we are thus as close to God as Jesus was, then David’s confidence is 
not absurd egotism. 

What a contrast to the din and confusion of modern civilization 
are the experiences of a spirit led by God. “Green pastures,” “waters 
of quietness’: A strange conception for a life like David’s which was 
outwardly far from restful. He was hunted down like an animal by 
Saul; enemies and troubles beset his reign; there were wars and strife 
on every side, and yet he says exultantly, ‘“He leadeth me beside the 
still waters.” Evidently there is a possible experience where the 
human spirit can be at rest even though there is no outward warrant 
for it. If we could learn David’s secret, what peace and health would 
be ours. Medical men write long articles about the menace of modern 
life with its turmoil and anxieties. They urge men to return to a 
simple life to avoid nervous breakdowns. Much of this counsel is 
beside the mark because few of us can regulate the cosmos. Why 
not urge people to seek a spiritual experience such as David’s. The 
weight of a depressing past with its failures and mistakes takes the 
heart out of us. We settle down in disillusionment and middle-aged 
stodginess, when what we need is a spiritual bath to restore our soul. 
That is the gift of God in answer to a humble, contrite heart. 

One reason why we are not more conscious of God’s guidance is 
because we are not sure whether we want to walk in paths of righteous- 
ness. We insist on reaching the goal of our desire if we have to cut 
across someone else’s property to arrive there. The ways of right living 
are too slow for some of us. Clean living is as dull to us as it was to 
the small boy who longed to buy candy when his mother had told 
him to buy soap. The real trouble is with our hearts. We do not want 
God’s guidance; we want to adventure: so we do, — and suffer for it 
in our minds and bodies. 

Even death itself is not a blank wall. It is only a shadow and as 
harmless as shadows always are. We walk through them, without fear, 
with God. Note the change from the personal pronoun “He” to the 
more intimate “Thou” as David walks into troubles. God draws 
nearer. If we are lost in the storms of life, the Good Shepherd searches 
and finds us and brings us back on His shoulders rejoicing. (See Matt. 
18: 12-14). Life cannot balk the resourcefulness of the God who is 
our Shepherd. The marginal reading of “surely” is “only goodness 
and loving kindness shall follow me.’”’ The Shepherd God ahead of us 
and loving kindness behind us — what greater protection could there 
be! What do we want when we seek guidance? Is it that we shall 


96 FINDING OUR WAY IN LIFE 


have what our eyes covet, or that we may know the right path and 
follow it? 


O Lord Jesus Christ, Thou Good Shepherd of the sheep, 
Who camest to seek the lost, and to gather them to Thy 
fold, have compassion upon those who have wandered 
from Thee; feed those who hunger, cause the weary to 
lie down in Thy pastures, bind up those who are broken 
in heart, and strengthen those who are weak, that we, 
relying on Thy care and being comforted by Thy love, 
may abide in Thy guidance to our lives’ end; through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Ancient Collect. 


TWENTY-THIRD WEEK 
EXPERIENCES ALONG THE ROAD 


The adventurous spirit of Christopher Columbus does not appeal 
to most people. We like novelty and new experiences, but do not care 
to pioneer into the unknown. The way has to be opened by others. 
We like to be safe and sure. 

When we decide to walk in God’s ways and follow His purpose, we 
picture our ideal of the right path, as a straight, sunny highway, level 
and smooth, with no fog or overhanging clouds. So long as our exper- 
iences in life correspond with the ideal, we voice our confidence in 
God’s sure guidance. If other kinds of experiences come, we are 
likely to feel that there is something wrong and that God is with- 
holding this loving care. Therefore we become a prey to fears of the 
future and wrestle with anxiety until the spirit is enslaved and health 
begins to feel the effects of worry. Many a sincere Christian loses the 
sense of the heavenly Father’s nearness and is mentally depressed 
merely because his ideal of the path of life is not true to the facts. 

What then is the normal experience of all who start out upon the 
road of God’s purpose? What have we a right to expect from the 
teachings of Jesus? What ideal will keep us in that perfect peace which 
is essential for the health of body, mind, and spirit? 

At the outset we need to remember that the open road of God’s 
purpose is to be travelled by faith rather than by sight. We do not 
discern the end nor the beginning. The Divine reasons why we were 
brought into life are veiled in mystery: and the end and purpose of 
our incarnation is yet to be revealed. All we really know is that we are 
here on the road. Our chief business is to follow the Christ because we 
know He walked with God towards a glorious destination. We pin 
our faith to Him and are content to go on. If the beginning and the 
end are inscrutable, why should we be troubled because some of the 
shorter distances are beyond our present sight? 

We shall find, too, that progress is made by taking the next step 
that is immediately before us. It takes courage to concentrate on the 
present moment and leave the outcome of the next hour, or day, or 
month with God. There is no way of predicting what a day may bring 
forth, because we are dealing with life, and life is ever moving and 
changing. It is never static. Time and space are imaginary concepts 
like the lines of latitude and longitude. They are convenient for describ- 
ing locations, but are not real goals. We are always shown how to use 


97 


98 FINDING OUR WAY IN LIFE 


the next moment and to make the immediate decision. That is really 
all we need to know. The past step has been taken, the future is yet 
beyond us. All we have is the present step. The true attitude is 
voiced in the prayer of Newman: 


‘‘Keep Thou my feet, I do not ask to see 
The distant scene; 
One step enough for me.” 


We might be able to meet this test of faith if it were not for the 
challenges of other people on the road who are sure we are going the 
wrong way. They would have us turn aside to walk with them and 
the pressure of their influence is hard to withstand. It is one of the 
strange facts of life that there are always head winds opposing our 
progress in the path of faith. “Woe unto you when all men speak well 
of you,” is the warning of Jesus to His followers. It is unlikely that 
any of us would win spiritual victories save through a conflict with 
human opinion. Perhaps this is what keeps us true to our purpose 
and makes us depend more fully on the strength of God. Happy are 
we if we are not turned aside by the plausible arguments of those who 
are unwilling to lose their lives in order to find them. The sacrificial 
spirit is born out of the struggle between the Spirit of God and the 
spirit of the world. It will be a struggle to the end, as it was in the 
life of Jesus. This is the normal experience of those who press on in 
the life of faith. 

We can understand the human influences that oppose our progress 
better than the uncertain character of the road itself. Instead of walk- 
ing in the light we often find ourselves headed toward darkness. 
Light and shade come in tantalizing succession and unless we know our 
God we shall waver in our quiet trust. Upgrades, downgrades, roughness 
and smoothness are likely to come at any moment. And yet it is all 
God’s highway and we are in the path of His power, guided by the 
same spirit who led Jesus. ‘‘This is the victory that overcometh the 
world: even our faith,” writes the chief pioneer who followed Jesus. 
If we could once fix our minds on the faithfulness of our Father’s love 
rather than on the changing scene, we should be freed from such a 
weight of anxiety that we could triumph over anything. Paul in his 
lonely pioneering for the Christian faith was able to shout in triumph 
loyally because he could say, “None of these things move me — Look- 
ing unto Jesus, I press forward.” As for us, we lose our strength because 
everything moves us with disappointment and doubt. 

There are sharp turns in the road, too, which shut off our vision. 


EXPERIENCES ALONG THE ROAD 99 


It is the normal experience. Those corners are the supreme test of 
faith, but they serve a useful purpose. If it were not for them, the 
road would be a long stretch of plodding monotony. A stone wall or 
the seeming end of a trail, is the signal for new discovery. Some fresh 
revelation of God’s power is about to happen. When we come to the 
last step before we turn, we shall get a new glimpse of God’s loving 
guidance and go on in greater faith, because the crooked place was made 
straight. Think of what Israel’s deliverance from the Red Sea meant 
to their faith! 

Following the road of God’s purpose brings us the companionship 
of all true souls. There in no kinship like that between those who are 
following the same path of God’s purpose. Closer than brother and 
sister is the understanding of two hearts burning with devotion to the 
way of Jesus. ‘‘How these people love one another,”’ was the comment 
of the pagan historian writing about the early Christians. And John 
wrote, “we know that we have passed from death to life because we 
love the brethren.” 


If thou but suffer God to guide thee, 

And hope in Him through all thy ways, 

He’ll give thee strength whate’er betide thee, 

And bear thee through the evil days: 

Who trusts in God’s unchanging love, 

Builds on a rock that naught can move. Neumark. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


He clave rocks in the wilderness, and gaye them drink abundantly as 
out of the depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused 
waters to run down like rivers. Yet went they on still to sin against him, 
to rebel against the Most High in the desert. For their heart was not 
right with him, neither were they faithful in his covenant. But He, full of 
compassion, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not: Yea, many 
a time turned He His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath. And 
He remembered that they were but flesh; A wind that passeth away, 
and cometh not again. How oft did they rebel against Him in the wilder- 
ness, and grieve Him in the desert! And they turned again and tempted 
God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not His 
hand, nor the day when He redeemed them from the adversary. 

Psa. 78 ; 15-17, 37-42. 


This Psalm is a long recital of human fickleness and unsteadiness 
of purpose in contrast with God’s faithfulness. Most of the reason 
why we do not find our way in life is due to this vacillation. We tend 
to be opportunists and point the bow of our boat in whatever direc- 
tion a favoring wind blows. We are like the tramp in a recent English 


100 FINDING OUR WAY IN LIFE 


book who, when asked how he knew which way to go, replied: “I 
always go with my back to the wind.” That is the trouble with most 
of us in our spiritual life; we follow the urge of the moment and the 
line of least resistance. We do not love anything hard enough to 
suffer for it. Our fundamental desire is for a smooth road and we are 
willing to endure hardness as good soldiers having a cause. 

Nothing short of a fixed religious purpose will steady our thinking. 
We waste years playing about and seeking the traditional pot of gold 
at the foot of the rainbow. Not till we discover that there is a divine 
purpose for human life shall we be free from haunting anxieties. 

We have all had marvellous escapes from trouble. Somehow at the 
very moment when we were about to be overwhelmed by circum- 
stances, a deliverance came. God had His eye on us, and led us through 
the fire so that we were not burned. We may not have seen His hand 
in our life, but that was due to our blindness; not to His absence. 
“T will gird thee, though thou has not known Me,” came the word of 
God through the prophet Isaiah. 

Spiritual stupidity is a common weakness. Perhaps some of it is 
due to our inability to see beyond, or behind the present moment. 
Only those to whom God is very real dwell much in the past or future. 
Our arc of vision is tiny when we remove the sense of eternity from it. 
God takes this into account for, as this Psalm says, He remembered 
that they were ‘a wind that passeth away and cometh not again.’’ 
This does not excuse disloyalty when we make great promises during 
our troublesome times and forget to pay our vows after we are delivered. 
It does not excuse also the remembrance of past experiences. The real 
reason for our disloyalty is the ancient spirit of fear which is always 
looking out for trouble. So long as we are guided by our fears instead 
of by our faith we shall see only the terror of the night and the arrows 
that fly in the day. Fear fixes the attention on what is fearful. Faith 
sees what is faithful and that is God. There are two possible ways of 
judging the character of the world; looking at it by night or looking 
at it by day. Both are facts of experience, but the day rules the night 
and we really live from day unto day. 

What if my job vanishes, and my garden fails to mature, or my 
future is unknown and I see only waste places ahead of me, I can 
depend upon the same God that Isaiah found, who reassures His 
people with those matchless words, “TI will bring the blind by a way 
that they know not; in paths that they know not will I lead them: 
I will makedarkness light before them and crooked places straight; 
these things will I do and I will not forsake them.” 


EXPERIENCES ALONG THE ROAD 


O God, who hast commanded us to be perfect as Thou 
our Father in heaven art perfect; put into our hearts, 
we pray Thee, a continual desire to obey Thy holy will, 
teach us day by day, what Thou wouldst have us do, 
and give-us grace and power to fulfill the same. May 
we never from love of ease, decline the path which Thou 
pointest out, nor, for fear of shame, turn away from it; 
for the sake of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. 


Henry Alford 1810. 


101 


TWENTY-FouRTH WEEK 


THE LIBRARY FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE 
SPIRIT 


A student once tried to defend his indifference to religion by 
declaring that the life of the spirit was too intangible and speculative 
to be taken seriously. “In law, medicine or chemistry there are 
intellectual resources for the student, but in religion one has to go by 
his inner consciousness. How are you to know you are on the right 
track?” 

It is strange that so many should be seemingly unaware of the 
great deposit of wisdom gathered from the religious experiences of the 
centuries, and contained in that great collection of books we call the 
Bible. It is not a text book written for propaganda, but a library of 
sixty-six volumes collected during a period of more than fifteen hundred 
years. The average student is staggered by the multitude of books by 
which the growth of modern education has developed during the past 
two or three hundred years. It is doubtful how much of it will survive 
the next ten centuries. Time sifts all things and, like a fire, burns up 
the thoughts of men. Much of what was written two hundred years 
ago has already disappeared forever, and has ceased to influence men. 
But to have survived fifteen hundred years and then to have been 
collected in a library and to sway fifteen hundred more years of think- 
ing — this may well command the reverence of every scholar. And 
in the realm of modern publishing business, the Bible is still the best 
seller, — far beyond the most sensational literary success of the day. 

Sixty-six books on spiritual education which have survived the 
closest analysis of the brains of centuries, are worthy of respect; 
especially if we are looking for guidance in the life of the spirit it 
would be foolish indeed to ignore the wisdom of the Bible, which has 
proved wiser than the wisest man. 

In finding our way in life the past religious experiences of humanity 
give us clear light. The sacred library traces the progressive develop- 
ment of all humanity in the knowledge of God. Every phase of human 
experience, every mental attitude is traced to its logical end through 
the lives of men and women who reached out toward the spiritual 
world. All the wisdom they gained through failure and success is 
there plainly told. And the amazing unity in the conclusions of 
fifteen hundred years of living makes us sure that we are dealing with 
basic laws of life and not with theories about it. We are not likely 


102 


LIBRARY FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE SPIRIT 103 


to follow the wrong trail when we work out our lives in harmony with 
those same laws which were worked out in the lives of characters in 
the Bible. 

The spiritual instincts and hopes which drew people on and up out 
of darkness became vivid realities with the coming of Jesus Christ. 


“All thoughts that mould the age begin 
Deep down within the primitive soul, 
And from the many slowly upward rise 
To one who grasps the whole.” Lowell. 


The transcendent personality of Jesus was the great amen to all 
the spiritual yearnings of the world. We know that the old prophets 
and teachers were on the right trail. The world was ready for the full 
truth which would forever set us free. The Bible was not completed 
until more than two hundred years of living in the power of Jesus’ 
teaching had demonstrated what could be done, when the spirit in 
man was free. Since then countless other folk have come near to the 
life of Jesus through the study of the Bible and found their way also, 
to peace, health and power. The church through all the centuries 
has been the great training school in the religious life and has held the 
mind of men to the degree that it has been true to the laws of the 
spiritual life as revealed by Jesus Christ. “I am the light of the world,” 
said Jesus; ‘‘he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall 
have the light of life.” How foolish of anyone to think that he can 
guide himself without the clear light of Jesus’ life as we know it through 
the Bible! As well might one expect to analyze the properties of gold 
without a knowledge of chemistry. 

We save much time and many regrets if we use the wisdom of the 
scriptures before we make experiments in life. Our days here on earth 
are few and precious and we have so far to go before we enter the 
heavenly realm that we have no time to waste on wrong theories. It 
is only common sense to start right so that we shall not have to use so 
much energy in finding the right road that we are not free to enjoy 
the companionships and beauties along the way. Nor do we want 
to lag behind others in our purposes toward God. 

The Bible is the great guide for daily living. Some of us have wise 
friends who help us by their counsel and keep us from making mis- 
takes. The perplexing questions which come up in our relations with 
others and the need for discernment call for wisdom beyond our 
experience. The wisest human friend may fail in judgment, but the 
guidance of the Bible is sure. It shows us the right principle to follow 


104 FINDING OUR WAY IN LIFE 


and how to apply it. It is like a mirror in which we see ourselves as 
well as the heavenly reflection. 

If we use the Bible casually, opening it for some magic direction 
we may wrest its meaning to our own destruction. It is not a book of 
rules, but a progressive revelation of God’s dealings with men, and 
man’s experience with God. If we bring to this library of books the 
same intelligence we use in other fields of knowledge we shall be 
rewarded beyond our fondest hopes. 

Some people use the scriptures to confirm their own theories rather 
than to receive its full teaching with humble hearts. There is only one 
way to use this spiritual wisdom of the ages. The character and point 
of view of Jesus is the gauge for all that is recorded there. He is the 
fulfillment of the law and the prophets and the Lord and master of all 
His followers. Everything in the religious experience of the Bible is of 
spiritual value only as it reflects the heart of Christ. 

The expression of all this wealth of religious experience helps our 
soul to wing its way into the very presence of God. We learn how to 
pray — we find the memory of those teachings, and visions, and, 
experiences of human hearts, coming back to us again and again, 
nerving our will to follow the same path of life. “Thy word have I 
hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.” 

‘Word of the everlasting God, 
Will of His glorious Son; | 
Without Thee how could earth be trod 
Or heaven itself be won? 
Lord, grant us all aright to learn 
The wisdom it imparts; 


And to its heavenly teaching turn 
With simple, childlike hearts.”’ 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not 
to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth 
pass away, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass away from the law, 
till all things be accomplished. Whosoever therefore shall break one of 
these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least 
in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he 
shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matt. & : 17-19. 


_ Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal 
life; and these are they which bear witness of me. John 6: 39. 


And he said unto them, O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in 
all that the prophets have spoken! Behooved it not the Christ to suffer 
these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning from Moses and 
from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the 
things concerning himself. Luke 24 : 25-27. 


LIBRARY FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE SPIRIT 105 


For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our 
learning, that through patience and through comfort of the scriptures we 
might have hope. Rom. 15 : 4. 


But abide thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been 
assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a 
babe thou hast known the sacred writings which are able to make thee 
wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Every scrip- 
ture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correc- 
tion, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may 
be complete, furnished completely unto every good work. 

II Tim. 3 : 14-17. 


Most of the reformers in the world have been in opposition to all 
that has gone before and have tried to turn people from old established 
ways to some new path which they are blazing out. Jesus Christ, 
however, rooted His unique message in the religious experience of the 
past. He never discounted the spiritual verities which had been 
wrought out through the age-long search for God. He came to fulfill, 
not to destroy. The mid-day sun does not deny the pale yellow and 
rosy beams of the sunrise. The truth of the dawn shines brighter and 
brighter into the white light of perfect day. We know Jesus is the 
truth because He gathers up Himself all the bits of truth which were 
wrought out through the experience of men with God. 

Jesus knew the writings of the Old Testament and expected people 
to judge Him by them. There could be no greater testimony to the 
divine authority of the scriptures than this. Anyone is likely to err 
unless he knows the truth which has been revealed, and the power of 
God. It takes an appreciation of the nature of God to understand the 
significance of what has been written, just as the character of our 
President gives peculiar meaning to his words. | 

It is important to note that in the conversation with the mystified 
disciples, after His resurrection, Jesus pins their faith to the eternal 
truth of the Old Testament for an understanding of Him rather than 
to the great events through which He had just passed. They were to 
see Jesus as the climax of all the religious yearnings of the past. The 
supreme proof to them of His presence was the way their heart burned 
within them as the old mountain peaks of truth were illumined by a 
new glory. What they had we too can have as we search those same 
scriptures with an open heart. 

How many of us keep our hope in God living and ever present? 
If it grows dim it is because we are neglecting the wisdom which would 
give us patience and comfort. The truth of God as revealed to men is as 
great as the heavens and comes out of the universal experience of the 


106 FINDING OUR WAY IN LIFE 


human heart. It is because Jesus is rooted in the past that we can 
trust Him for the days to come. He is not the exotic blossom of a 
single generation, but the inevitable flower born of the common hope 
and yearning of mankind. 

We enter into the life of a great university for the culture of our 
minds, and count years of study a necessity that we may understand 
the wisdom of humanity. Of how much more importance is it to live 
in the vast library of the Bible for the education of the spirit. One 
hundred years from now the wisdom of men will have ceased to be 
important to us, but the word of God’s truth shall abide, 


“With my whole heart have I sought Thee: 
let me not wander from Thy commandments, 
Thy word have I laid up in mine heart, 
That I might not sin against Thee. 
Blessed art Thou, O Lord: 
Teach me Thy statutes.” Amen. Psa. 119 : 10-12, 





HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL LAWS 


Twenty-Firta WEEK 
THE RIGHT TO BE WELL 


When God chose the body in which to incarnate the human spirit. 
He designed it to be the best possible means for expressing the life of 
the soul. Jesus Christ in His teachings emphasized God’s concern 
for the body as well as for the mind and spirit of man. A large part 
of the ministry of Jesus was devoted to the healing of people’s bodies 
so that the spirit might be released for a life of service on earth. There 
is some high and holy purpose for the life of the body or we would not 
have it. Everything that God has made is good, and serves His 
divine purpose. When He would reveal Himself to men He incarnated 
His Spirit in human flesh in the person of Jesus. If for no other reason 
than this, we do well to revere our bodies. They are meant to help and 
not to hinder. 

It has been a long hard struggle for the world to accept the body 
as a divine gift to be governed by the spirit and mind. It is the inter- 
preter of the outer world, and is the necessary instrument for self- 
expression. It is like the mighty organ which reveals the soul of the 
musician. Without it he could not express the harmony within him. 
It may be used to suggest unworthy emotions, but that is not the fault 
of the instrument. In the same way our body may prostitute our soul 
because our physical senses may appeal to some evil desire within us 
and drag us down. If high desires control our heart those same bodily 
senses may be the means of exalting us. 

Many people seem to be quite content to go on for years “enjoying 
poor health,” or “complaining of feeling well,’ as the honest negro 
mammy put it. They neglect the body and with a curious kind of 
resignation live meekly with numerous ailments and disorders. A 
discerning man once said that he made it a rule never to greet any 
acquaintance with the usual, ‘How are you,” because that was a 
signal for an inglorious recital of pet bodily ills. Many people fall 
back on their bodily weakness as their only method of attracting atten- 
tion to themselves and getting sympathy. Why should we pride our- 
selves on a run-down body, when we would not think of boasting about 


107 


108 HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL LAWS 


shiftless housekeeping and bad sanitation, or reckless expenditures. 

There are many, too, who think that giving thought to the body 
degrades the idealism of the soul. In exalting the life of the spirit 
they deny the claims of the body and ignore its protests and warnings, 
refusing to recognize it. Sooner or later the body collects everything 
that is due it with interest. We never live the complete life when we 
leave out of consideration any important fact in experience. Jesus 
recognized the perfect unity of body, mind, and spirit and always began 
to help people at the point of their greatest need. His concern for the 
health of those about Him has been too long unnoticed by those who 
follow Him. 

Our states of mind leave their mark upon our bodies. We have 
watched lines of care etched on people’s foreheads by anxious minds. 
We have seen shoulders bent by discouragement and faces paled by 
fear. We now are beginning to see, even more clearly, the effects of 
our thinking on diseases, and weakness which lays us aside for years. 
We long to be well, but we are in such bondage to our mental states 
that we cannot change our condition. 

For some of us the battle for health has been made hard by our 
parents. They took the line of least resistance and yielded to our 
childish clamor for late hours, unwholesome food and uncontrolled 
living, until our bodies got the best of us and have forced their atten- 
tions upon us with pain, nerves, and helplessness. Our right to be well 
has been taken from us by those who were responsible for our training 
in earthly experience. 

It is God’s will that our spirit should control our mind and body 
and use them for the carrying out of God’s purposes. Therefore if we 
give into God’s hands the mastery of our spirit and train ourselves to 
be skillful in using the laws which control the mind and body, we 
have the right to expect an ever larger measure of health. 

The right to be well lies largely in our hands, like the right to be a 
musician. My spirit may love music and desire it intensely, and have 
an ear for it; but unless I am willing to study the laws of harmony 
and train my fingers to respond to my desires, I cannot have what I 
have a right to have. 

We know that Jesus was so perfectly one with the Father of all 
life that power vibrated through Him, giving health to those who were 
sick and helpless. He expected His disciples also to heal the sick 
because He told them explicitly to do so when He sent them out. 
Jesus Christ is the elder brother of a new race of men and women who 
are to be victorious over the flesh and live by the laws of the spirit. 


THE RIGHT TO BE WELL 109 


What the full achievements of the spirit are to be we know not now, 
but we may expect larger results in proportion to our intelligent faith 
and our determination to meet the condition. 

God has given us the priceless privilege of working with Him in the 
creation of our spiritual powers. Most of us would like to sit down and 
see God work wonders for us without any effort on our part. Many 
blessings of life come that way, like the rain and sunshine. It is 
through the prayer of faith, plus our best effort, that the great personal 
gifts come. A father’s money will not give his son an education with- 
out years of study by the boy himself. My right to be well is a sacred 
trust; but I am responsible for acting upon all the wisdom God has 
already given through past experience. God can only work miracles 
for people who are doing their utmost to bring about an answer to 
their prayer. The laws of health cannot be ignored. If I put my hand 
into the fire, its consuming energy will warn me through pain, and 
recovery will follow the orderly process of nature’s laws, and will 
take time. The world is not fool-proof. We are put in the midst of 
forces which may destroy us or be used to work out weighty destinies. 
The part of us that is material must conform to the laws of the material 
world and its perfection depends upon the wisdom with which our 
living spirit controls the situation. 

We are finding that our spirit can govern the health of the body 
much more fully than we have ever supposed. What the limit is to be, 
no one knows now, but we may be sure that a perfect union with God 
will do more than a skeptical world imagines. At least we dare not 
settle down in despair over any bodily condition, for perhaps through 
it God waits to reveal Himself to us in answer to our trust. ‘The 
things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is 
in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own: for ye were 
bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body. JI Cor. 6 : 19-20. 


But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the 
flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. Rom. 13: 14. 


But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth 
in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall quicken also 
your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Rom. 8 : 11. 

“The secret of perpetual youth is the power of growth,’ writes 
Dean Bennett of Chester Cathedral. The tree lives as long as it puts 
forth new branches. Its power to do so lies in the roots of its life. It 


110 HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL LAWS 


does no good to treat the bark and wood of the tree if its roots and 
leaves no longer draw life from the earth and air. In human beings 
also, the health of the body depends on the life of the mind and spirit. 
If, as modern science suggests, our body is a universe of whirling elec- 
trons held together by the life spirit, then there is the greatest signif- 
icance in these words of Paul about our body being the temple of 
the Holy Spirit of God. 

The phenomena of physical youth and growth cover only one 
quarter of our earthly experience. During the other three quarters, 
the life of the body is largely controlled by the growth of the mind and 
spirit. If we disregard the laws which control this inner life, the life 
of the body will deteriorate far more rapidly than Nature meant it to 
do. The great battle of life consists in an incessant struggle between 
the mind and the flesh in order that the mind may keep its supremacy 
and control the life of the body. The body tends to pull downward, 
to degenerate, to be a drag on the life of the mind and spirit. The 
only hope for it lies in the strong control of the mind which can hold 
it to its best. When the limitless power of God’s Spirit comes into us 
to reinforce our mind and spirit, the body is held in a central control 
which keeps the billions of electrons from becoming chaotic and mani- 
festing their riots in the disturbance of physical functions; thus bring- 
ing on disease. 

If this is true why then, asks someone, are Christians as liable to 
illness as others? Because for many generations Christians have been 
centered in their faith on heaven rather than on realizing the truth of 
these words of St. Paul. They have regarded the body as a limitation 
rather than an opportunity for the practice of spiritual power. We 
have been like a man who reads books on athletics and rejoices in 
them but dies of tuberculosis because he has never exercised or rejoiced 
in the outdoor athletic life. The life of the spirit related to the life of 
the body is the great teaching which is needed by the mass of those 
who glory in the triumph of Christ and yet never think of using the 
same power which He gave us to do mighty works in that physical 
realm. 

The situation is worse than mere failure to relate the indwelling 
Spirit of God to the life of our bodies. We deliberately disobey the 
basic moral laws by which the health of the body is safeguarded and 
set up an opposition to the rule of the Spirit. Living in compartments 
is not possible. From the centre of the heart to the periphery of the 
skin there is one continuous life interrelated and interdependent. 
The control must come from within. 


: 





THE RIGHT TO BE WELL 111 


The word is clear: if the Spirit of Jesus Christ is living within us 
why should it be thought strange that our mortal bodies should be 
quickened to health by this presence of God within us. It may take 
time for the spirit to overcome the long years of neglect for which we 
are responsible, but every sufferer in the flesh ought to make sure that 
in no way he is short-circuiting the current of power in his life by 
strengthening the hold of the flesh. It takes time, too, to train the 
mind in faith and to educate our soul in the discovery and use of the 
Spirit. It will never be any easier to begin than to-day. Some of us 
may be hoping for some supernatural trick which will “cast a spell’ 
for us over any “ill that flesh is heir to.” 

There is no magic phrase; there is something far more wonderful — 
a possibility to realize in ourselves the promise of Jesus, ‘““He that 
believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also.”’ Is belief credu- 
lity or the conviction which results from understanding and experience? 
Let us begin now to understand and live, in all smallest details, the 
conscious Christian experience. 


O God, Thou art indeed the Guardian of our life, the 
Giver of strength and health. Help us to reverence the 
body for Thy sake; may we keep it a sacred house for 
Thy Spirit. Refresh us daily with Thy mercies so that 
we may use all our powers to glorify Thee. Amen. 


TwENTY-SixtH WEEK 
THE HUMAN ELEMENT IN ILL-HEALTH 


Most of us are personally responsible for the beginnings of our 
ill-health.: Through our habits of thinking and ways of life we have 
set influences at work which slowly but surely lower the tone of the 
body and cripple its powers of resistance to disease. We all have our 
pet points of view which have grown up with us and are such an inti- 
mate part of our personality that we cannot see ourselves as others 
see us. We have so many good reasons for thinking as we do, and 
living as we do, that we are quite likely to feel that there is little use in 
attempting any fundamental change in our temperament. It will be 
our loss if we do not take ourselves in hand seriously and make sure 
that nothing in us hinders our abundant health. 

First let us ask ourselves whether we tend to the negative in our 
viewpoint on life. What is the natural attitude toward new sugges- 
tions and ideas? Do we say, “It cannot be done! I don’t believe it! 
It doesn’t appeal to me. I am sure I never could do that. I am sure 
I shall fail.” In other words, are we more inclined to see difficulties 
than opportunities in our daily experience? If we have this kind of 
negative temperament we shall soon discover that we have become 
incapable of enthusiasm and that the fires of vitality are burning low. 
Suspicion, cynicism, doubt and despair will creep into our hearts 
before we are aware of it, and our physical health will slump. Some 
people with negative minds will read these pages and say to them- 
selves, ‘There is nothing in it; it’s pure poppycock.”’ Watch out, those 
of you who think this — for before long you will lose the vigor in your 
step and the light in your eye and you will remind your friends that 
you are utterly worn out. Begin now to change your temperament. 
Let your spirit be lifted up and not dragged down by every small 
experience! See what a difference it will make in your relation to others. 

Our false standards undercut our health. We feel that we must 
keep up with the demands of others, even though we have no honest 
right to do so. Many of us have a false sense of pride which pushes 
us to the breaking point. We then spend sleepless hours in anxiety 
about how we shall meet our obligations. Living beyond our means, 
undertaking more than we can do well, appearing to be what we are 
not, create a state of insincerity which hides the face of the Christ 
from us and leaves us a prey to worry. Many chronic diseases come 
on the heels of worry, and all the doctors and best cures will avail 


112 


THE HUMAN ELEMENT IN ILL-HEALTH 113 


nothing unless we face our double life and begin to live in truth and 
honesty. It takes courage, but it is the price of health. 

There is also a vicious circle connecting a worried mind and a 
sensitive body. Anxiety causes disease and disease in turn causes 
more anxiety. Each makes the other worse. Then we act and react 
upon ourselves until we are helpless. Unless the shock of some new 
experience takes our attention from ourselves, there is no hope save 
in God. It is He who holds us in life and all our future is in His keep- 
ing. His mercies fail not. There is no relief save to go to Him as a 
little child in the loving confidence that Jesus taught us and let Him 
take away anxiety from us. Faith in God’s word will release us from 
depression and give nature a chance to build up health again. In 
any case, however, we need to strengthen the connection between 
ourselves and God, for He is the one fact with which we must reckon, 
both on earth and in the realm beyond. 

There is yet another element in the situation. The greatest force 
which undermines health is the spirit of fear. Most of us live in 
bondage to it in some way or other, and yet it takes from us all mental 
vision and creative ability, and keeps the body from functioning in 
health. Fear is the most terrible slavery. Some of us fear lest disasters 
will overtake our loved ones. Some mothers live in such constant 
fear for their children that they are incapable of any intellectual 
growth or achievement. Men grow old before their time because of 
their fear of poverty. Many men live in such fear of losing their jobs 
that in the end they do lose them through consequent ill-health. 
Diseases often become epidemic because people fear them. There is 
no doubt that much of the nervous depression of later middle age is 
due to a fear of approaching disability and death. 

The spirit of fear is really a distrust of the loving purposes of God. 
For countless generations those who have lived closest to God have 
all had the same experience of the prophet who said, ‘‘Behold God is 
my salvation. I will trust and be not afraid.” They knew that con- 
scious sin was the only enemy of peace that they needed to recognize. 
If they were rebellious against the divine laws of God which were 
written in their hearts, they knew they had everything to fear because 
they had cut themselves off from their source of help. Sin always 
separates the heart from God and His love. When sin enters, fear 
enters also. Through the life and death of Jesus we know what the 
heart of God is like and may draw near in full confidence that God 
forgives and restores us to Himself in a relation of love. When He 
thus saves us from ourselves, we too can trust, and fear nothing. 


114 HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL LAWS 


The truth is, we do not believe sufficiently in a loving heavenly 
Father. What new health might come to us if at the beginning of each 
day we should repeat the words of the Psalms audibly and thought- 
fully ten times, until we sense the meaning in every fibre of our being. 


“Bless the Lord, O my soul; 
And all that is within me, bless His holy name. 
Bless the Lord, O my soul, 
And forget not all his benefits; 
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; 
Who healeth all thy diseases; 
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; 
Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; 
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; _. 
So that Thy youth is renewed like the eagle.” Psa. 103. 


‘For the love of God is broader 
Than the measure of man’s mind, 
And the heart of the Eternal 
Is most wonderfully kind. 
If our love were but more simple, 
We should take him at his word, 
And our lives would be all sunshine 
In the sweetness of our God.”’ 
Frederick William Faber. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present 
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your 
reasonable service. And be not fashioned according to this world: but be 
ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what 
is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Rom. 12 : 1-2. 


Now therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah: 
thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, If ye wholly set your faces 
to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there: then it shall come to pass, 
that the sword, which ye fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, 
and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, shall follow hard after you there 
in Egypt; and there ye shall die. Jer. 42 : 15-16. 

That ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old 
man,which waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and that ye be renewed 
in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God hath 
been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. Wherefore, putting 
away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbour: for we are 
members one of another. Eph. 4: 22-26. 


As far back as the time of Solomon the proverb runs: ‘‘The curse 
that is causeless cometh not,” (Prov. 26: 2) and Eliphaz reminded 
Job that affliction cometh not forth out of the dust, neither doth 
trouble spring out of the ground, (Job 5:6). There are causes in the 


te errr 


—— ee 


THE HUMAN ELEMENT IN ILL-HEALTH 115 


spirit of fear, which is the herald of many diseases. Dr. Hadfield says 
in one of his books, “If fear were abolished from modern life, the work 
of the psychotherapist would be nearly gone.’”’ The mental states of 
fear include general pessimism, nervousness, despondency, worry, 
irritability, indecision, restlessness, cowardice, suspicion and a host 
of other kindred ills. Some of these states of mind we may recognize in 
ourselves; others may be so habitual that they are subconscious 
and almost intuitive. 

St. Paul strikes the nail on the head when he pleads, ‘‘Be ye trans- 
formed by the renewing of your mind;”’ by getting a new point of view 
of life. In other words he is counseling us to cultivate those states of 
mind which are the exact opposite of the manifestations of fear. Every 
mental state under the reign of fear distorts sensations. We under- 
value normal sensations and exaggerate abnormal sensations. Every 
mental power suffers. The imagination is filled with emotions and 
images which are diseased. Even the memory becomes unreliable 
and untrustworthy. Some of the people who read this book will 
be unable to take its suggestions seriously because their minds 
are incapable of mental assimilation after long years steeped in 
fearfulness. What many a man and woman needs is a new way of 
looking at everything. If this were not so the religious message of the 
centuries of Old and New Testament wisdom would not have reiterated 
ad infinitum the words,“ Fear not.’ It is significant that we are told 
to offer our ‘‘bodies a living sacrifice,” as a “spiritual worship” because 
the body is the wax on which the thoughts of the mind are imprinted. 

Fears have a habit of materializing and bringing to pass in exper- 
ience what has been dreaded in the mind. Even so long ago as in the 
days of Jeremiah the prophet this truth was recognized. Notice 
that the culmination of their fears was to come, “if you wholly set 
your faces to enter into Egypt;” that is if one decides to go back on 
all the life of faith and return to the bondage of fear. Egypt represented 
to the Jew, fear, slavery, despair. Our Egypt is the settled depression 
into which we sink when we decide that there is no use in venturing 
out in faith; that our condition is “peculiar” and we are tired of struggl- 
ing. Fear is really a faith in what we do not want, and as such has a 
positive power to bring that which we do not want to pass. We have 
it in our power to decide whether we will create what we do not want 
or what we do want. 

The only way to be delivered from fear is to practice faith. When 
the weathervane points to the clear west it cannot point to the rainy 
east. The laws of the mind which many people hail as new are as old 


116 HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL LAWS 


as the human race. Deceitful desires are our undoing. Our fearful minds 
fool us with suspicion, prejudices, and anxieties, until we cannot 
think straight, and an enfeebled body in turn holds our mind in bond- 
age. We need to put away our old thought forms and get a new point 
of view. We do not have to change our bodies geographically, though 
sometimes that makes it easier for our minds to change; the real 
victory comes through attention on new goals, new ways of looking 
at old things, new courage to take ourselves in hand and venture 
everything on the stake that the wisdom of God and His point of view 
is the only right way of life. 


God of my life: what time I am afraid I will put my trust in ae, 
men. 





TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK 
THE WAY.TO HEALTH 


Our particular bodily needs may vary from time to time, but 
there are certain attitudes of mind which must become habitual 
before we can expect any help. We have certain responsibilities to 
fulfil before we can exercise intelligent faith. Chief among these 
stands honesty in facing our situation. We must be governed not by 
our fears, but by our actual knowledge. There are so many things we 
suspect to be true without knowing them to be so. 

‘Some of your hurts you have cured 
And the sharpest you still have survived; 


But what torment of grief you endured, 
From evils which never_arrived.”’ 


All of us have had experiences like this. We are so afraid of what 
we may have to meet that we do not face facts. A haunting fear of 
some possible bodily condition is far harder to bear than the actual 
truth. There is a therapeutic value in truth which often rallies all 
our latent powers and restores us. An intelligent understanding of 
our body and its mechanism prevents many a disaster. A competent 
engineer knows his engine and knows its power and limitations; whereas 
we who are in command of a far more complex organism often presume 
to direct it in ignorance of its laws. Even though God meant our 
spirit to control our body, He has established certain methods and 
laws which we dare not ignore without woeful results. 

When we begin to study these laws we shall discover that there are 
causes back of all effects, and that we cannot deal with conditions 
until we know what caused them. God has placed us in an orderly 
world where things do not happen by chance. If we would have per- 
fect health we must deal with the source of our troubles. Some causes 
may yet be hid from our knowledge, but in most cases they can be 
traced back to some way of living in which we are the chief cause of 
our undoing. 

It is at this point that the work of the physician comes in. The 
years of experience with disease have yielded much wisdom which is 
a sacred trust handed down through medical training. The man who 
discovers in the laboratory the natural laws of health is discovering 
God’s purposes as much as another who discovers the laws of the 
mind and spirit. God does not need to work a miracle to feed us, 


117 


118 HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL LAWS 


because we have learned wisdom in the use of what nature has pro- 
vided for our nourishment. Neither does He need to work wonders 
when there are means of help for us in the medical knowledge available 
for the world’s use. What we now need is to learn how to codperate 
with the wisdom and the laws of health by giving the full assistance 
of a mind and spirit which can voice the suggestions which our bodies 
will obey. We must prepare the way for God to work by utilizing 
revealed wisdom and doing all in our power to help Him. ‘Working 
together with Him, we intreat that ye receive not the grace of God in 
vain.” There are prophets of God in the medical realm just as in the 
realm of prayer and the preaching of God’s truth, and they give 
themselves sacrificially for truth that will bless humanity. When 
Walter Reed gave his life in the discovery of the cause of yellow 
fever he preached a truth that has saved the health of untold thou- 
sands, and he is only one of many who have loved truth more than life 
and have cheerfully accepted martyrdom that we might live. How- 
ever, like all men, they are limited in wisdom and can only lead us as 
far as human power can take us. There yet remains all the limitless 
power of God which can do beyond what we know to do, in accordance 
with our faith and His purpose for us. 

In training ourselves in faith we have other preparatory work to 
do. Our past experiences have so often meant defeat instead of vic- 
tory that we do not have much hope that the present or future will 
be any better. We therefore lose our enthusiasm and settle back in 
stodgy indifference or rebellion. Such a condition makes faith impos- 
sible, and “‘without faith it is impossible to please God” or work out our 
salvation. There is no reason why the past should prevent new experi- 
ences now. Every day is a new day; every week we change, and new 
conditions arise. Why then should we not:keep our minds in an expec- 
tant attitude, and be alert for new manifestations of our Father’s 
love. Expectancy is the atmosphere in which faith grows. We can 
change indifference to expectancy by our act of will: then we shall be 
awake and ready to lay hold on the power of God. 

Faith is confidence in a loving Father who is concerned for the 
good of his children. We can count on Him as the ever-watchful 
friend waiting to bless us. An intelligent faith is a trust which is 
based on the knowledge of God’s purpases and methods of work and 
on the relationship we have to him. This springs not from our desires, 
but from the teachings of Christ and the experiences of His disciples. 
The human mind can make powerful suggestions to the body which 
will influence it toward health, but the same mind filled with living 


ae 


THE WAY TO HEALTH 119 


faith in the power of Christ can do infinitely more. The scientific 
world has proved the power of mental suggestion as a healing force, 
but the realm of faith goes beyond scientific proof and is dependent 
upon our intimate connections with the heart of God. No one can 
reduce mother love to a formula; its powers vary with the need. No 
more can we compress the free heart of God into a law: it transcends 
all reason. 

Therefore, in coming to God for health, we are coming to a Father 
who has our whole life in mind and knows what will fit us for the 
special work he sent us here to do. It is not His will that our body 
should limit the spirit, or the spirit limit the body. He sees the end 
from the beginning and we can trust Him to set us free. It may take 
time to work out the necessary changes in us in order that we may 
use rightly the health we seek. Mary prayed that she might find the 
dead body of Jesus in order that she might anoint it. Her prayer was 
denied because there was something better in store for her — the 
vision of a living Lord. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath called 
by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 
and he hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, 
and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; and to devise 
cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting 
of stones for settings, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of 
cunning workmanship. And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, 
both he, and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. Them 
hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of workmanship, 
of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, 
in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, 
even of them that do any workmanship, and of those that devise cunning 
works. Exodus 85 : 380-35. 


What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but 
have not works? can that faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, 
and in lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be 
ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the 
body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in 
itself. James 2: 14-17. 


Most of us have been trained to divide life into two mutually 
exclusive compartments; the religious and secular. We have been 
taught to believe that the Spirit of God was especially with those who 
were engaged in prayer, preaching and Christian service, while out- 
side of this favored group, people struggled on as best they might 


120 HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL LAWS 


by the unaided light of their minds. This has an immense significance 
when we discuss the way to health because it has seemed impossible 
to relate the power of God to bodily need apart from some miracle 
performed in answer to prayer. Thus many people depend upon the 
direct act of faith in God according to some religious system as the 
only legitimate way of caring for their bodies. 

We are beginning to see now, what Moses knew thousands of 
years ago, that the Spirit of God is the direct inspiration of all crea- 
tive work, gold work, stone cutting, wood carving, embroidering, and 
all manner of skilful workmanship. The reverent search of the scien- 
tist, in astronomy, physics, medicine, and surgery, is directed and 
inspired by the self same Spirit Who also reveals the truth of the Bible 
and the sense of God in His church. The sincere scientist knows he 
is being illumined and aided by inspired ideas, but he has not dared 
to call them religious because the world has labeled his vocation a 
secular pursuit. 

The work of the universe needs the honest codperation of all of us 
to reveal the manifold wisdom of God. The man who searches out 
patiently the orderly processes by which God administers the life of 
the body has divine wisdom to reveal to those of us who do not know 
it. He may be as much the voice of God for the body as the clergy 
may be the voice of God to the soul. As far as the mind and spirit 
control the body, the counsels of religion are bound to be effective for 
those diseases which come from the spirit of fear, anxiety, etc. There 
remains, however, a realm of organic trouble which is controlled, in 
so far as it can be, by medical skill. In this realm the mind is thus 
reinforced by the wisdom revealed through other experienced minds. 

The questions which St. James asks are pertinent to this subject. 
He teaches us to believe that the prayer of faith will save the sick, 
and at the same time links up faith with works. God does not treat 
us like tiny babies to be taken up and cared for in answer to our inartic- 
ulate cries, nor does He make us so omniscient and powerful that we 
can live independent of the help of others. He makes us dependent 
on one another and expects our faith to be reinforced by every bit 
of help we can summon to answer our own prayers. To pray for the 
poor and not share our abundance with them is mockery. To expect 
God to heal our body and refuse to use the abundance of help at our 
disposal is presumption. 

There will come times when all we can do, and all that others can 
do for us, will fail to help. When that limit is reached, we yet have 
the right to go to God with a faith that He will meet our need in our 


THE WAY TO HEALTH 121 


way, if that be His way. Otherwise He gives us the insight into His 
far-reaching purpose, which will satisfy our heart. 


Our Father, Thy loving kindness doth not fail, nor dost 
Thou forget us in our weakness. Help us to dwell so 
near to Thee that our strength may be renewed and our 
anxiety swallowed up in peace. Show us Thy purpose 
and help us to trust Thy love even though we walk 
in darkness. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 


TWENtTy-HiacHtH WEEK 
THE SECRET OF SELF-MASTERY 


So long as we live, we have to struggle for the mastery of self. It 
is an endless fight, but there are certain methods of warfare which 
insure success in keeping the mind and body in health. Chief among 
these is our responsibility for keeping up the normal life of our body. 
This involves eating, drinking, sleeping, and exercise. These primi- 
tive requirements are vital to self-mastery, for they tone up the body 
and give it poise. Many diseases come because we are careless of these 
elemental needs. We overeat or undereat, turn night into day, let 
our muscles become flabby, and then wonder why we have ill-health 
and over-wrought nerves. We cannot break the laws of health and 
then expect God to set us right by supernatural power. If these four 
daily needs of the body are supplied intelligently, we shall prove our 
ability for self-control and find it easier to fix the mind on the impor- 
tant work of life. Indigestion, fatigue and poor circulation have 
ruined many a promising career and wrecked health. It is no wonder 
that Paul said ‘whether, therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatever ye 
do, do all to the glory of God.” 

One of the beautiful laws of life concerns effort and relaxation; 
the divine way to free us from all strain. It is the rhythm of activity 
and rest, work and play to which the body is adapted. The intervals 
of rest and play are the precious moments when what we have striven 
for in activity becomes a part of us. It is said that we learn to skate 
in summer even though the actual performance occurs in winter. We 
solve our problems in sleep after the struggles of the day. It is foolish 
indeed to think that, in our feverish haste, we can change the rhythm 
of life by extending the work and omitting the rest. We cheat our- 
selves of all mental growth and break the harmony in the body until 
it turns against us and compels us to heed it. It is the fever of getting, 
the fever of outdoing others, the fever of ambition, that defeats itself 
in the end, and kills the spiritual nature. We know it is wrong because 
it contradicts the divine plan. It will be hard for some of us to swing 
back into the rhythm of peace, health, and power, but unless we do 
so there will be no possibility of lasting self-mastery. 

There is another secret, too, which will help us in this fight for 
self-control. The more we think of ourselves and consider ourselves 
seriously the more self-centered we become. Instead of mastering 
our ego, it masters us. It demands more of our attention and before 


122 


THE SECRET OF SELF-MASTERY 123 


we know it we have an ingrowing sense of our importance. Some 
remedy must be found to divert us from ourselves. It is most often 
achieved through service for others. If we can enter heartily into the 
sorrows and experiences of others who need us, we shall find new 
powers of self-control. A man who was sinking into melancholia 
because of his pity for his own sorrows was induced to assist at a 
big Christmas dinner for poor newsboys. The sight of those children, 
who were facing life gaily in spite of poverty and rags, absorbed his 
attention and he decided to help them through some social service. 
Before the winter was over he had found peace and health, and his 
old mental powers. He discovered the eternal truth that our health 
depends on our having some interest outside of ourselves. Then our 
self-control becomes perfected through unselfishness. 

There are times, also, when a change of environment helps us to 
master ourselves. This does not necessarily mean a geographical 
change, but a mental change brought about by study, and the use of 
leisure to create new interests. Health requires enthusiasm and if 
our present situation does not create it, we must add some new ele- 
ment to it. A new line of reading, a new training in some unfamiliar 
work will give us the mental buoyancy we need and solve our health 
problem. We dare not settle down in boredom lest our spirit lose its 
control over the mind and body. An environment which is too perfect 
is boredom. We need contacts in life to keep up courage. 

All of these secrets of self-mastery are overshadowed by the 
supreme method of simple childlike prayer, and study of the Bible. 
The deepest suggestions are made to the mind when we are quiet 
and alone in the presence of God. Egotism melts away and the mind 
unburdens itself of its anxieties. There is nothing like the habit of 
prayer to bring health and power and a sense of relaxation. 

When we come into the presence of God our thought must be 
centred on Him and not on ourselves and our petty little experiences. 
They will melt away in the light of His countenance. One great need 
in prayer is that God’s love should come into our heart and fill the 
mind with holy suggestions which will lift us up above our weak- 
nesses. Let us make a genuine experiment in prayer and as often as 
possible each day become quiet within while we breathe rhythmically 
and relax as we pray. 

Every day and every hour, 

Father, I breathe in Thy life-giving power — 
Power to love, 
Power to be pure, 


Power to be well, 
Power to endure. 


124 HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL LAWS 


As we consciously breathe in the vital life of God, let us in the same 
consciousness let go of our enmities and prejudices and breathe in 
love; let us turn from earthly desires, and breathe in purity, let us 
also relax until the vitality of God reaches the limit of our bodily 
need; then let us renew our strength in God until we are well able to 
endure whatever may be His purpose for our day. 

If we are faithful in this prayer and surround it with the atmos- 
phere of the thoughts and truths of the Gospels, a new power and 
victory will surely be ours. 


Father in Thy mysterious Presence kneeling 
Fain would our souls feel all Thy kindling love; 
For we are weak, and need some deep revealing 
Of trust, and strength, and calmness from above. 
S. Johnson 1846. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


All things are lawful; but all things are not expedient. All things are 
lawful, but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but each his 
neighbour’s good. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no 
question for conscience sake; for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness 
thereof. If one of them that believe not biddeth you to a feast, and ye 
are disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question 
for conscience sake. But if any man say unto you, This hath been offered 
in sacrifice, eat not, for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: 
Conscience, I say, not thine own, but the other’s; for why is my liberty 
judged by another conscience? If I by grace partake, why am I evil spoken 
of for that which I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat, or drink or 
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. JI Cor. 10 : 23-31. 


Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a 
cloud of witnesses, layjaside every weight, andthe sin which doth so easily 
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking 
unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was 
set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at 
the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that hath endured 
such gainsaying of sinners against themselves, that ye wax not weary, 
fainting in your souls. Yethave not yet resisted unto blood, striving against 
sin. Heb. 12: 1-4. 


Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth 
the prize? Even so run, that ye may attain. And every man that striveth 
in the games is temperate in all things. Now they do it to receive a cor- 
ruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, as not uncer- 
tainly, so fight I, as not beating the air: but I buffet my body and bring 
it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, 
I myself should be rejected. J Cor. 9 : 24-87. 


The good is often the foe of the best. There are countless things 


THE SECRET OF SELF-MASTERY 125 


which are right in themselves but wrong for us if they defeat the 
main purpose of life. It may be right to read a book, but wrong to 
do so if it interferes with a responsibility which I have undertaken. 
Self-mastery consists in making decisions which will further the reali- 
zation of life’s ideal. 

Every detail of life hangs on its purpose. Eating and drinking 
become religious acts when our faith is reaching out for God-like 
powers. Nutrition builds up the cells of the body and creates the 
nervous energy by which we live, and achieve our career. There is a 
right standard for each one of us. Malnutrition causes disease and 
mental weakness, and gluttony also causes disease and spiritual degen- 
eration. Even sleeping and exercise influence the spirit. There is 
no possibility for victorious faith unless the whole self is organized 
as an ally with our spirit. Chronic liver trouble creates a brown 
soul. ‘Prepare ye the way for God: make His paths straight”? might 
well be applied to our daily habits of bodily living. We must learn 
to part with our pet ailments and indulgences or our spirit will be 
enslaved. With women the temptation to be subnormal in weight, 
and anzemic to boot, will sooner or later take its toll from mental 
and spiritual powers. 

The remembrance of all the men and women of the past who have 
won victories through faith, ought to be an incentive to self-mastery 
for everyone of us, as it was to the writer to the Hebrews. Before we 
can rise to heights of faith there are remembrances and pet sins to be 
laid aside though they cling to us. The sacrifice of these things is easy 
because of the joy which is before us. Self-denial for the sake of self- 
denial has no virtue; but the scientific ordering of our life because of 
a greatly desired goal is a rewarding experience. Everything that 
loosens the hold of the earthly pull makes one that much more able to 
possess the powers of Christ. 

The world is full of air beaters who fight to no purpose. They are 
the nervous invalids whose thoughts revolve uncertainly around 
themselves, aimless and self-indulgent. They are also the lazy souls 
who are not in the race for anything. They put off self-mastery until 
it is too late. They are permanent losers. 

Too much cannot be said about the importance of fixing one’s 
eyes on the character of Jesus. It is not enough to be familiar with 
the historic facts of His life: what this generation needs is to study 
the significance of His life in the light of our mistakes in thinking and 
living. The psychology of His teaching is far richer in wisdom than 
anything yet written. He is the only hope, and the way out of all our 


126 HEALTH AND SPIRITUAL LAWS 


difficulties. When we pray we know that we are lifted up into com- 
panionship with Him. If we make Him our ideal, we shall be in 
unity with all others in the world who see in this human incarnation 
an opportunity to ‘fashion anew the body of our humiliation that 
it may be conformed to the body of His glory, according to the work- 
ing whereby He is able even to subject all things unto Himself.” 
(Phil. 3 : 21). 


O Thou victorious Christ whom death could not hold 
grant us Thy strength that we too may live in triumph. 
Thou hast been tempted in all points as we are, and 
art touched with the feeling of our infirmities; help us 
in coming to Thee to find strength for our weakness and 
shelter from temptation. May the power which dwells 
in Thee quicken our bodies and our minds that we may 
glorify Thee on the earth; and this we ask for Thy name’s 
sake. Amen. 


GOD’S WAYS OF WORKING 


Twenty-Ninth WEEK 
THE LAW OF FAITH 


There are few subjects which inspire as many differences of opinion 
among religious people as the spiritual law of faith; and yet it is 
fundamental to every relationship with God. We are told that “with- 
out faith it is impossible to please God,”’ therefore it is important that 
we know how to possess it and how to use it. 

There are several ways of describing faith. If we apply the word 
to the realm of intellectual convictions we mean belief: if we apply 
faith to persons we mean trust. One is an intellectual process, and 
the other is a personal relationship. When we are dealing with faith 
in God, both processes are involved. In the relation of our spirit to 
Him in loving trust we use faith, and as we observe the laws by which 
He works in the world we create a faith which becomes part of our 
intellectual belief; -— these beliefs become guides for our conduct; 
rules for living and a standard by which we measure values in the 
world. Everyone has a set of beliefs which are law and gospel to him. 
Faith in those mental conclusions represents what we call, broadly 
speaking; an education. 

The word conclusion suggests a certain characteristic of faith 
viz., — its freedom from unrest. When truths are being argued within 
our ‘minds, we do not know whether or not to believe in them. Our 
faith is replaced by doubt, and unrest. Perfect faith predicates always 
a quiet confidence and comes after the battle is over. 

There is also another important aspect of faith. It is that fact of 
the mind or spirit which greets the unseen with a shout. It is that 
part of us which really gives the victory. It is that which enjoys the 
reward before we actually have it. In other words faith determines 
the perspective of the soul. 

Without faith we would have no great perspective in life. It is an 
impressive fact that as one works in the world, one sees very few who 
could be called men of faith. Most folk work with a very narrow 
perspective of faith. It is a venture into the unknown, in confidence 
that the future will justify all expectation. 


127 


128 GOD’S WAYS OF WORKING 


It takes courage to live a life of faith because while one end of 
the ladder rests on the tangible ground, as Jacob saw it in his vision, 
the other end reaches up to heaven far beyond our power to see. 
Faith involves a scale of values which are beyond the near-sighted 
vision of most people, and widens our horizon. 

Faith also acts upon the mind as a dynamic. This is a familiar 
truth. We have all seen people depressed and hopeless in the midst 
of anxieties and perhaps a few hours later we have seen those same 
people, with no change in circumstances, buoyant and hopeful. The 
only cause for the change was the faith which helped them to grasp 
future certainty even though the present warranted no such hope. 
The point to emphasize is that the change of spirit brought by faith 
enabled them to change the circumstances. It is usually ourselves and 
not our environment that must be changed if victory is to be won. 
It is well this is so, for thus we become independent of circumstances 
and superior to them. Faith is the power which gives wings to our 
spirit and lifts us above the world of stress and change. 

Perhaps some of us imagine that this quality of spirit is a special 
gift not meant for any but chosen souls. Because it is so rarely found 
we may argue that it is difficult to obtain. This is far from true. Its 
rarity comes more from our stupidity than from our lack of capacity. 
It is so simple that we stumble over it. 

Christian faith involves taking Jesus at His word and accepting 
the fatherhood of God as a blessed fact. We put our trust in Him and 
believe that as He has been a real Father to millions in the past, so 
He will be to us. We take the position of a little child in simplicity, 
and teachableness and find that this simple trust is in itself an act 
of faith. 

There is a real connection between faith and love. When we love, 
we have faith. It is natural to trust the one we love. It is natural, 
too, to believe in the point of view of the loved one, and to revise our 
mental conclusions in the light of love. One who really loves Jesus 
does not find it hard to believe in Him and to have faith in His teach- 
ings. There is a belief which is as impersonal as 2 x 2 and affects our 
lives as little as the multiplication table. Many religious folk put 
great value upon this kind of reasoned belief in facts and call it faith. 
This is why so few mountains are removed at a word. The true faith 
is a living, aspiring spirit, piercing clouds of doubt and reaching heaven 
at a bound. A little child may have it and all men and women of 
humble heart may use it. Faith unlocks the mysteries of God. ‘Lord, 
increase our faith.” 





THE LAW OF FAITH 129 


“Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope; even to-day do I 
declare that I will render double unto Thee.’ Zech. 9, 12. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the proving of things 
not seen. Heb. 11: 1. 


Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this man? or why fasten ye your 
eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him to 
walk? The God of Abraham and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our 
fathers, hath glorified his Servant Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied 
before the face of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. And by 
faith in his name hath his name made this man strong, whom ye behold 
and know: yea, the faith which is through him hath given him this perfect 
soundness in the presence of youall. Acts 3: 12-13, 16. 


And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: 
and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They 
say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According 
to your faith be it done unto you. And their eyes were opened. 

Matt. 9 : 28, 29, 30. 


The way of faith is the way to health. Faith is that faculty which 
refuses to believe in chaos and which knows that at the heart of the 
universe is a Fatherly God who works, without shadow of changing, 
according to beneficent laws. Faith stakes everything on this con- 
ception of God and thus knows in advance that what it hopes for is 
really true. When people believed in a chaotic world in which one 
could never be sure of anything there could be no assuring faith. 
Dean Bennett describes faith as “our faculty of dynamic, anticipa- 
tory thought.”? The laws of the universe are so orderly and so sure 
that we can anticipate them in advance and adjust our life according 
to them. 

Faith is not a religious faculty alone; it is in all of us and we use 
it all the time. We have faith in our bank as well as faith in God 
and we have the same peace of mind when we exercise this special 
gift. It is our most powerful faculty and therefore best enables us to 
reach out to God. Psychologists have discovered that when faith 
and optimism dominate the mind, the brain and nervous system func- 
tion normally. Physicians have found that faith is a health-promoting 
faculty, whether the object of faith be God, or a pill. The usefulness 
of the pill is limited to one kind of disorder; so that it is not a per- 
manent object of trust. If we really believe in a Fatherly God of love, 
He becomes an object of faith in all experiences of life and our faith 
is justified through the precise working of the laws by which health 
of spirit and body is possible. 


130 GOD’S WAYS OF WORKING 


Our faith ought to be a stronger faculty now than in generations 
ago. Physical science has opened up vast mysteries through the 
exercise of faith because, even with more confidence than we rehgious 
folk show, it resolutely refuses to believe in a chaotic cosmes. The 
further it proceeds in faith, the wider becomes the application of the 
laws of God to the detail of our entire life. 

Through faith we are able to say, as never before, to the lame, 
“Rise up and walk.”’ When religion and science really join hands in 
the quests of faith then will be unfolded such wonders as have never 
entered into the imagination of man. 

Jesus Christ was in fact what we hope to be by faith. His powers 
become actually ours according to the intelligent reach of our faith. 
Prof. J. T. Simpson in his “The Spiritual Interpretation of Nature,” 
says, ‘Christianity gave a new direction to human history. For in 
Him (Jesus) there came to light and actuality for the first and only 
time, that for which the whole process from the beginning had evi- 
dently been planned, and He is the fulfillment of all that went before.” 
If this be true, then there is no limit to what our faith can bring to 
pass if we measure up to the completeness of His surrender to the 
Spirit of God. He asked the blind men if they believed He was able 
to open their eyes, their faith anticipated His power and accordingly 
it worked in them. 

Faith, then, is a health-producing faculty. It grows by trust in a 
benevolent universe and especially by confidence in Jesus Christ. 
Whatever power the mind has over our body to that extent by that 
law may we have health. If we are consciously or unconsciously 
breaking other laws which affect our bodies, we shall suffer until we 
discern them. We dare not say that they are beyond the reach of 
faith for we have not yet measured its height. It is for us to follow 
the Christ very closely for there is none other to whom we may go. 


Choose for us, God!—nor let our weak preferring 
cheat our poor souls of good Thou hast designed. 


William Henry Burleigh 1868. 


THIRTIETH WEEK 
FAITH AS A WAY OF LIFE 


There are two ways in which we may go through our years on the 
earth. We may look upon life as one long struggle to satisfy human 
desires, or we may look upon our human incarnation as a special 
commission to accomplish some divine purpose. We may go through all 
the motions of living, or we may walk by faith. Without faith life is 
merely a series of disconnected acts. With faith, life is like the 
close-woven threads of a tapestry revealing a beautiful design. 

Faith works both in the realm of the possible and the impossible. 
In the realm of the possible it becomes a way of daily living. Faith 
creates all personal relationships and all the higher planes of living. 
It orders the daily program. You go to the city in faith that the 
engineer knows how to run his engine, and in faith that your friend 
will be at the appointed place of meeting. You start your children 
to school in faith that the teacher will instruct them. Without faith 
all society and comradeship would disappear and we would be lurking 
in caves with our hand against every other man. 

In the same way we do not live a day without a childlike faith in 
things. We push a button believing that electricity will light the 
room, because we have intellectual faith in certain facts which have 
been discovered. No one lives only on his own experience. We have 
faith not only in what we have discovered but also in what others 
have found true. We take their results on trust.,/Every meal we eat, 
we eatin faith that people whom we may not know — the milkman, 
and farmer and manufacturer —are honest. Without fear, we take 
what they provide. 

The scope of faith is constantly widening by “experience. The 
older we grow the more we depend upon our confidence in the rela- 
tionships of life. The margin of possibility is widened constantly for 
us. Fifty years ago we put the art of flying in the realm of the impos- 
sible. Now we know that the faith of countless men who pushed on in 
spite of ridicule has been justified in experience and we perform our 
own miracles as a result of the persistent faith of the pioneers. Through 
coéperation with faith we do mighty works beyond our full under- 
standing. It brings the zest of adventure, the thrill of creation into 
our lives. 

It seems strange that the spirit of faith which we accept and use 
in every phase of human experience should be resented by many as 


131 


132 GOD’S WAYS OF WORKING 


a means of discovering God. We question the spiritual realities which 
faith creates, when we accept without question the human realities 
revealed by the spirit of faith. When we take faith as a way of life 
the greatest realities are created. Everything we do has significance, 
because it helps to make our dreams come true. 

Faith makes all work worth while. The carpenter saws and 
planes the lumber not for physical exercise, but because he dreams of 
the house he is to create, or the possibilities wrapped up in the money 
he will receive. We believe in the destiny we desire for our children, 
or for ourselves, therefore we spend time and money in training and 
education for the joy set before us. We have faith in love and there- 
fore we cultivate friendships and create a family life and sacrifice our- 
selves for the sake of it. We sense in some dim way the value of our 
human life and what it may grow to be; therefore we try out our powers 
in adventure and ambition and live by the faith we have in our own 
powers. In fact, without faith we could never know the highest 
experiences in life. 

Why then should we not use this sixth sense in rolaion to God? 
There are great discoveries for those who will make a spiritual 
adventure. There are unexplored paths of power waiting for the 
feet of that one who will say, “I believe in God, and I believe that 
he rewards anyone who diligently seeks Him.” 

In the spiritual realm, faith brings results when we fulfil the neces- 
sary conditions. We must know, first, that we are in harmony with 
the character of God. Jesus taught us to pray “in His name” and 
therein lies a secret. A name is a symbol of personal identity. Most 
of us have two names: the name our parents gave us and the character 
name which the world applies to us. Character shouts the real name. 
“They say his name is John Smith but.he is known around here as 
Old Grouch,” said a boy to a stranger. The character of the man had 
won for him a new name which was a precise description of his dominant 
characteristic. The prayer of faith which is answered must be brought 
in the name of Christ; in the full appreciation of His character. We 
cannot expect results unless we hold in reverence all those qualities 
which make the Christ, the radiant outshining of God. He works 
with those who are in harmony with Him. An honest man will not 
coéperate with a dishonest man: no more can we expect the rewards 
of faith and trust unless we are truly one with all the ideals of the 
heart of God. 

- We must also know the purposes of God and what he desires us to 
accomplish. It is utterly foolish to build up our little scheme of life 


FAITH AS A WAY OF LIFE 133 


without reference to the great plan. His purpose is bound to be 
accomplished. It is not good sense to conduct my life as I see fit 
regardless of God’s purposes. If I ally myself with what God wants, 
the whole pushing power of the universe is behind me and I cannot 
fail. When self-will rather than the purpose of God pushes us then 
faith becomes unreasonable wilfulness and cannot work wonders. 

It is important that we understand this because our power to 
achieve results in faith and prayer is at stake. This is why we must 
go back again and again to the study of the teachings of Jesus. There 
is no better way in which to know the character and purposes of God. 
Sometimes we pray and strive to carry out certain ambitions which 
are dear to us. As time goes on we find that the plot thickens and we 
are baffled on every side, so that we cannot do what seemed possible. 
Perhaps we were working at cross purposes with God. If so we need 
to change our prayer from, ‘Lord give me this which I so desire,” to 
“Lord what is Thy purpose for me?”’ 

If our love were but more simple, 
We should take Him at His word, 


And our lives would be all sunshine 
In the sweetness of our Lord. F. W. Faber 1854. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, from whom every 
family in heaven and on earth is named, that he would grant you, accord- 
ing to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power 
through his Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts 
through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 
may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and 
length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth 
knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God. 

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that 
we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be 
the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever 
and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3: 14-21. 


Faith is applied in any realm of life, but some of the objects toward 
which it is directed are not worth the expenditure of this soul energy. 
It is possible for faith to be mistaken in its sense of values. A man 
once said of another, ‘‘He believes so much that isn’t so.” Faith may 
degenerate into weak credulity unless the objects of faith are tested 
for their true character. Even in the scientific world men have to 
revise continually their major premises. They base their faith on 
certain facts and from these frame an hypothesis as a possible guide 
up the hill of difficulty to the next point of vision. Perhaps before 
they reach that point, other facts not before realized may necessitate 


134 GOD’S WAYS OF WORKING 


a change in their hypothesis. It is the open-minded willingness to 
face all facts that makes their faith triumphant and opens up new 
fields of vision. A man of faith must also be a man of humility. A 
faith which does not widen and find room within it for all God’s truth 
is likely to die and turn to prejudice. 

When we make Jesus Christ the object of our faith, we have a goal 
which is worthy of all our aspiration. He towers, like the Alps, above 
the small hills of vision, and we can measure their true importance 
because their height is relative to that of the shining summit. Without 
Christ as the perfect standard, we are divided in our ideals and our 
sense of value becomes unreliable. 

Even a faith in Christ which does not go forth in love is valueless. 
The illustration of the garden which St. Paul used makes this clear. 
Faith is the upreaching plant which is rooted in love and grows in 
love and penetrates to the length and breadth and height and depth 
of love. In other words, the God who is Love dwells in a universe of 
love and by faith we realize it. Faith gives us the analytical eye: but 
faith plus love functions with sympathy as well as discernment. 
Faith is power; but, combined with love, it is also protection. 

The life of faith is a life of self-realization. The reason why so 
many of us fail to achieve satisfying experience is because we are 
guided by opinions rather than by faith. Opinions are based on a 
vision of future reality. The architect saw the cathedral in his mind 
before he drew the plans; Florence Nightingale saw the ministry of 
nursing before she began its work; Columbus saw land in the West 
before he set sail on the uncharted ocean. A mother sees the man she 
desires her child to be while he is yet an infant. Out of these visions 
of faith came the constructive discoveries of the world. Faith is the 
only way of life that is satisfying. 

God meets our asking and thinking with the power to do. He is 
always urging us to go on beyond our present desires. The measure 
of accomplishment is not what we think but is determined by the 
power which is at work within us. Any business which measures its 
capacity by what it has done will soon be outstripped by another 
which anticipates the future as a present reality. “‘Where there is no 
vision the people perish” and faith itself dies. ‘‘When the Son of man 
cometh shall He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18 : 18). 


Our Father, grant me, day by day, the courage to face 
facts; may I discover in them Thy will for my life, and 
knowing it, help me to devote myself utterly to its 
accomplishment regardless of cost or consequence. 
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 


Turrty-First WEEK 
FAITH IN THE REALM OF THE IMPOSSIBLE 


The teachings of Jesus urge us continually to higher levels of faith. 
We were not meant to be content with doing only as well as we have 
done. We are to reach out to new possibilities like every living thing. 
Not one of us has exhausted our latent possibilities. We long to have 
God satisfy certain desires of our heart by the painless method of 
loving trust. We want Him to work in answer to our faith without 
our having to toil and suffer in bringing our desires to pass. We forget 
that “faith apart from works is dead.” 

It is strange that so many people prefer to degenerate into spiritual 
parasites, rather than to become creators with God. We are slow to 
learn the law of life as we see it in the world. We pray “give us this 
day our daily bread,” and yet we know that prayer is not answered 
unless we plant the seed, cultivate the ground and gather the harvest. 
Bread is a coéperative gift. God’s sunshine, rain and seed plus our 
cultivation, and mill-grinding, and baking bring the daily bread. 
It’s a blend of what we can do and what we cannot do, God’s power 
added to our work through faith. 

As in bread so in other gifts, the possible and impossible are joined. 
We may never say, ““This is my loaf which I made,” for without the 
elements given by God our work would have profited nothing. So 
there is always beyond the limit of our effort, a realm of humanly 
impossible. There is that great margin between the limit of human 
strength and the bounds of God’s strength. That margin is infinite 
and ‘vast and is a place in which faith alone can work. Faith reaching 
out to the impossible is the only way by which we can reinforee our 
human strength, and draw from God’s infinite resources. 

Jesus invites us to enter this realm by faith. He says, “if ye have 
faith, all things are possible,” so limitless are some of His assurances 
that the ordinary mind is staggered and falls back on the supposition 
that the age of wonders passed with the time of Christ, or that He 
never meant them to be taken literally. So many conflicting opinions 
sway people to-day that it is well to ask what kind of faith inherits 
the large returns Jesus promised. 

It could not be an erratic faith which expects a fantastic display 
of power at the will of the one who prays. God is too faithful and 
just to allow his laws, which are His orderly methods of work, to be 
interfered with by the clamour of some insistent soul. We could not 


135 


136 GOD’S WAYS OF WORKING 


want such a possibility, for it would put us all at the mercy of capri- 
cious will. When we think about it we are glad that we live in a 
dependable world where results come from obedience to universal 
principles. God is not, however, in the position of the man who refused 
to let the eleventh guest sit down at a club dinner because his orders 
called for only ten plates. There are no such exigencies in God’s 
ruling. He finds the way to answer our faith within His laws through 
our obedience to them. They are not like the traditional red tape 
instituted by government, but are the element in which we live and 
breathe and work. It would be a dangerous world for all of us if we 
could not depend upon God’s established methods of procedure. 

The same principles of life reach into the spiritual world. In the 
realm of the impossible it is even more necessary that I know God’s 
purposes, because there God alone reigns. If I expect to do anything 
beyond my human strength, I must know those At purposes of 
God which are bound to be fulfilled. 

God’s infinite power joins our weakness whenever we need freedom 
of spirit; anything is possible if it really frees us from the enthralling 
power of our earthly nature. The results of faith may mean new life for 
body, soul and spirit. For example, fear keeps the spirit in slavery, 
and is not God’s will for us. If we have faith in God’s love so that 
fear is banished, far-reaching effects will begin to come. The mind will 
be clearer in its wisdom; the body will become more normal because 
the nerve centres are no longer paralysed by fear. Mighty cures have 
been wrought and will be again in perfect harmony with the law of 
trust and love. Whatever ill is caused by some outer circumstance, 
not beyond the disposition of the spirit, will obey the laws of life and 
compensate us in other ways for the loss of power in the bodily life. In 
this way the loss of a limb will give increased sensitiveness of spirit 
which may unlock the greatest possibility for a future career if it is 
used for discernment instead of irritation. 

It is also God’s purpose that we shall grow into his likeness. Any- 
thing which promotes this we may expect to receive through faith. 
Spiritual gifts do not drop down from heaven like the snow. They 
grow out of experiences in life. There is nothing impossible with God 
if it means more likeness to Him. This is one reason why many of our 
prayers are denied. We fix our minds on something which may make 
us more material in our desires and more satisfied with our spiritual 
poverty. On the other hand if we reach out in sincere faith for the 
carrying out of God’s purpose, the material supplies will come flood- 
ing in to help us in our spiritual career. Let us be sure that we do not 


FAITH IN THE REALM OF THE IMPOSSIBLE = 137 


fool ourselves by imagining that God will not discern the thoughts 
and intents of the heart. He will answer the spiritual desire. Many 
times we do not strengthen that desire until a denial of the material 
blessing we longed for brings it to our attention. 

If we expect our faith to avail in the heavenly realm where God 
reigns, we need to be sure that our prayer of faith comes from an 
honest heart. The limitless power of God will be ours if we are honest 
with ourselves and with God. There are spiritual enemies which 
must be fought and conquered: pride, vanity, sloth, selfishness, 
wilfulness. In the realm of the possible, God responds in exact ratio 
to our cooperation with him: in the realm of the impossible, God 
responds to the extent that our spirit is perfectly in accord with His 
character. 

“Tf ye abide in Me and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye 
will — it shall be done unto you.” © 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted 
of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights he 
afterward hungered. And the tempter came and said unto him, if thou 
art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he 
answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but 
by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil 
taketh him into the holy city; and he set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 
and saith unto him, if thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is 
written: 

He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; 
And on their hands they shall bear thee up, 
Lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone, 


Jesus said unto him, Again it is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy 
God. Again, the devil taketh him unto an exceeding high mountain and 
showeth him#all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and 
he said unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down 
and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for 
it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only thou 
shalt serve. Then the devil leaveth him; and behold, angels came and 
ministered unto him. Matt. 4: 1-11. ; 


When we see people under strain we see their true character. The 
testings of Jesus at the beginning of His service shed much light on 
His point of view concerning His relation to God. The three temptations 
are typical of what comes to us. When He was hungry and had no 
bread Jesus resisted the suggestion that He use His power to satisfy 
it by working for Himself a miracle which ordinary human beings 


138 GOD’S WAYS OF WORKING 


could not work. It was like having a million dollars in trust and not 
taking one cent of it for one’s own necessities. Jesus chose to be 
obedient to the laws of human life and refused to use His intimate 
relation to God for selfish purposes. His daily bread was to come in 
response to the ordinary methods by which our need is met. So many 
of us are like the Pharisees who were looking for signs and special 
manifestations. We are prone to think that something which comes 
to us unexpectedly is more an evidence of God’s power than that 
which helped to bring it to pass. 

It is dangerous to quote scripture as a warrant for our faith unless 
it accords with the laws of the spiritual life. Jesus refuses the evil 
suggestion backed up by the Psalm, that if He is the Son of God there 
will be no limits to what He may not do; that there are no situations 
from which He cannot come out unscathed. We often fail to measure 
up to our Master in this. How often are we dismayed because God 
does not rescue us from some cross by performing some miracle for 
us which will cause people to marvel, when the highest faith is that 
which takes up the cross knowing that it is in itself a gateway to 
larger life. Jesus met this same temptation in Gethsemane when He 
asked that the cross be removed if ié were possible. When it was not 
removed, this faith was made equal to the strain, so that He triumphed 
over it in resurrection life. 

In another temptation, Jesus refuses to gain power by compromise 
with evil, even for an end which is good. Such experiences test the 
purity of our motives. The life of faith does not mean easy victory 
for us. Those of us who have the most confident trust often have to 
sail into the teeth of an adverse wind. ‘ Faith does not always bring 
peace, it may be the herald of battle. Jesus had perfect faith all 
His life and yet miraculous deliverances did not always come. Endur- 
ing faith is sometimes a higher quality than victorious faith. Both 
come into our experience and God alone knows which is best for us. 
God can do for us what is humanly impossible and we have the right 
to ask it in faith. If the deliverance does not come now it is because 
the love of God has prepared something greater “beyond what we 
ask or think.” 


As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so longeth 
my soul for Thee, O God. Send out Thy light and Thy 
truth, — let them lead me ever nearer to Thee. Make 
Thy holy will my only wish. Through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen. 


TuirtTy-SECOND WEEK 
THE LIMITATIONS OF FAITH 


When we read that word of Jesus, “the things which are impossible 
with man are possible with God,” it seems beside the mark to speak 
of limitations in the range of faith. We think of God’s infinite power 
and wonder why we are not able to release it with our faith. Why do 
we not do it? What are our limitations? We do well to understand 
them. 

The spirit of faith is limited by our experience in the Christian 
life. It takes time to know the purposes which God has for us. Some- 
times our faith is ignorant because we have not made it wise by search- 
ing the scriptures to learn the secrets of Christ’s faith, and to see 
what limited the faith of those men whose experiences with God are 
recorded for our benefit. We spend years studying the causes of 
victory or downfall in the life of nations, and in reading the thoughts 
of those who write books. Why should we expect to become expert 
in the use of faith toward God without studying diligently the history 
of man’s search after Him. There are certain truths about faith 
which have been proved by countless experiences in the past. If we 
study philosophy we review the history of all that has been learned in 
the past and then add to it the wisdom of the present. Many of us 
are limited in faith because we are stumbling along without a text 
book to guide us. Life is too short to waste it in learning by personal 
mistakes only. We need first to profit by the experience of others. 

We are also limited in faith by the generation in which we live. 
This is a hard saying for those who feel that the present age is the 
ultimate point of progress. We discount the worth of past generations 
who were reaching up to the highest that they knew. We forget too 
that after us will come other men and women who will pity our ignor- 
ance and wonder why our faith was not more perfect. 

The development of the life of the centuries is just as much part 
of God’s plan as the development of the individual from childhood 
to manhood. The individual repeats the history of his race, and the 
race repeats the history of the individual. It is humbling to our pride 
to think of ourselves as unable to go further than the general limits 
of our generation. Yet this is so in scientific development and in the 
realm of faith. 

We are able to work with God more fully now than those of past 
generations. Our faith operates in a far wider field. This is true of 


139 


140 GOD’S WAYS OF WORKING 


the body as well as the mind. We have it in our power now to work 
miracles in our bodies through surgery and the therapeutic art which 
were impossible five hundred years ago. In the same way the people 
of the future will outstrip us in the use of that faith which connects 
human effort with divine power. This is also true of ideas and desires 
which will remake the world. We see the promise of the future now, 
for here and there are human spirits who are leading in the new genera- 
tion. They are like the mountain peaks which glow with the light of 
the rising sun while the valleys and plains are still wrapped in gray 
shadows. The peaks rejoice in the coming day, but their faith cannot 
create light in the valley till the time has come. 

_ Our personal faith is also limited by the necessity for unselfishness. 
We are like ships made for a cargo, weighted down by the load of our 
responsibility for this world. This slackens our speed but we rejoice 
in it because we ‘‘bear one another’s burdens and so fulfil the law of 
Christ.” Most of us spend far too much time lamenting over the 
burdens we have to bear; the social group which is deaf to the har- 
monies we hear; the opposition to progress from those who are bound up 
in the same bundle of life with us. Unselfishness is a willingness to 
bear the burdens of the group; a sacrifice of ourself for the good of 
those who were chosen as our companions in life by the purpose of God. 
Jesus gave himself for the life of the whole world. He said when you 
pray say “Our Father.” Our faith will reach its mountain peak only 
as it rises out of the common need of the world. I cannot detach myself 
from others and expect to release resources of power for myself alone. 
Have you been wanting some ‘pull’? with Heaven which will bring 
you special privilege? The question sounds irreverent, and it is; 
because like all selfishness it is out of harmony with the character of 
God. 

This suggests another limitation for faith. The requirements of 
character are inexorable. There is no short cut to power. We pray 
for help when some painful calamity occurs and we want deliverance 
from our thorn in the flesh more than we want character. Sometimes 
this craving for deliverance becomes in a sense a thermometer which 
registers the degree of our idealism, and we find it has been falling with 
the years. In such a case, our “thorn” may be a blessing in disguise, 
if it wakens us to spiritual needs. We cannot live on a low plane of 
thinking and pray on a high plane of faith — we cannot ask God to 
restore the dying body when we have no concern for the living spirit. 
Character must be consonant with our faith, or prayer becomes a 
mocking. We can ask God to restore our soul through His forgiving 


THE LIMITATIONS OF FAITH 141 


love, but that will not fit us for mighty deeds of faith until we under- 
stand the character of God through personal experience. 

The world is waiting to see us prove, by our understanding of the 
law of faith, that we surely do believe the teaching of Jesus Christ. 
If we seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these 
other things that have to do with our eating, drinking, clothing, and 
bodily needs shall be added by the watchful love of our heavenly 
Father. 

Yes, Thou art still the hfe; Thou art the way 
The holiest know, — light, hfe, and -way of heaven; 
And they who dearest hope and deepest pray 
Toil by the light, life, way which thou hast given. 
Theodore Parker 1846. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


O Lord Thou hast searched me, and known me. 

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, 

Thou understandest my thought afar off. 

Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, 

And art acquainted with all my ways. 

For there is not a word in my tongue, 

But, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. 

Thou hast beset me behind and before, 

And laid thine hand upon me. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; 

It is high, I cannot attain unto it. 

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? 

Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: 

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there, 

If I take the wings of the morning, 

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 

Even there shall thy hand lead me, 

And thy right hand shall hold me. 

If I say, Surely the darkness shall overwhelm me, 

And the light about me shall be night; 

Even the darkness hideth not from thee, 

But the night shineth as the day: 

The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. 
Psa. 139 : 1-12. 


There is no more beautiful expression of perfect faith in an omnis- 
cient God than in the lines of this Psalm. The all-seeing eyes of God 
may be a cause of terror to some who, like wilful children, long to get 
away from that watchful presence; but to all of us who believe in a 
friendly world, this conception of God brings a full assurance of faith. 

Who of us has not had a haunting fear lest some day our friends 
will see us as we really are and cease to love us. We are in such a 


142 GOD’S WAYS OF WORKING 


tumult of thoughts and opposing desires which we can never explain 
that often we do not have faith in ourselves. We are always being 
surprised by such unexpected revelations of weakness and cowardice, 
and fires of passion within, that we lose our confidence. Nothing 
restores our soul so quickly as this realization of David that God knows 
us better than we know ourselves. A great deal of inner distress of mind 
would disappear if we made it a habit to repeat the words of the 
Psalmist over and over until the rest of perfect understanding brought 
us peace. Try it as a method of relaxation before sleep at night and 
see how all the vagrant thoughts and anxieties come under the calm 
control of the spirit of God. Nothing will quiet the inner argument 
more than this. 

The rest of the Psalm is breath-taking. It gathers up into the 
protection of God every possible experience in life. There are no 
problems anywhere in the heavens above or in the depths of the sea 
or in the dark spaces of life. Faith in an omnipresent God brings 
perfect rest. God saw us before we were born, so there is nothing sur- 
prising about us to Him. Much of our ill-health comes from lurking 
fears which skulk about in the dark corners of our mind. If we know 
that the wind of God’s Spirit is blowing through all the corners of our 
life, we become free spirits. 

So long as our attention is fixed on our sensations and emotions, 
our faculty of faith is chained. We must escape from ourselves. A 
spacious conception of God will develop a spacious soul. In other 
words the chief reason why our faith is limited is because our con- 
ception of God is limited. Meditation on such sweeping faith as this 
Psalm shows and upon countless other portions of scripture, will 
convince our heart as well as our intellect. It is “with the heart man 
believeth.”’ Faith becomes limitless when a spacious conception of 
God grows from an ideal to an enthusiasm. 

The reign of law in the spiritual world does not limit faith. Law 
is our description of God’s ways of action. It is our witness to His 
reliability. ‘‘He’s a great friend of mine,” said one of another, “I 
always know where to find him,” so it is with God; our faith in Him 
grows in proportion as we know where to find Him in all the expression 
of this life. 


Grant us, Blessed Father, a courageous faith in Thy love, 
and a never-failing confidence in Thy great purpose for 
each of ti children. May our service equal our capacity 
in Thy sight and truly express our devotion to Thee. 
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 


THE CRYSTALLINE LENS OF THE SOUL 


Tuirty-THirp WEEK 
THE SPIRIL OF PURITY 


Our world without is the counterpart of our world within. The 
old saying, ‘‘A man sees that for which he is looking,” is truer than 
most of us realize. All the beauty in the world goes for naught if 
there is no love of beauty in the soul. Two friends were listening to a 
famous orchestra. One of them, unmindful of all else, sat enthralled 
by the harmonies. He was brought back rudely to earth by the voice 
of his companion: “O come along, let us get away from this noise.’ 
Music ceased to be, because the soul of music was not within him. 

It is only the pure in heart who are able to see God. He is hidden 
from other eyes. If there have been no sacred moments in our lives 
when we have caught glimpses of His glory, it is probably because the 
springs of our heart have been so muddied by all the refuse that has 
been thrown into them that they cannot mirror the image of the sky. 
We ourselves control the situation, and cherish or destroy true purity 
of heart, according to what we are willing to receive within ourselves. 
Purity is to the soul what the crystalline lens is to the eye. It is the 
organ of vision, and should be guarded as a priceless possession. It is 
the window through which the spirit looks out and up. Many a soul 
lives in a dismal prison house because this window has been covered 
with dust of the earth. There will never be any understanding of God 
until, out of a pure desire, there is a personal cry: “Create in me a 
clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” 

The fine gift of discernment is only possible to the pure in heart. 
It takes clean sight to appreciate spiritual values and to understand 
inner qualities. How can we appraise the true worth of anything 
unless we are able to see the perfect standard and estimate how closely 
each quality approaches perfection? How can we determine the curve 
unless we see the straight line from which it deviates! How can we 
know the true character of our desires unless we know what God is 
like and how far short we come in being like Him. 

The ability to know right from wrong depends upon purity. The 
chief reason why we are so confused in our thinking these days is 


143 


144 THE CRYSTALLINE LENS OF THE SOUL 


because our standards are blurred by our murky vision. We often 
say that seeing is believing. If we realized that what we see is that 
which leaps to meet our desire we would know the truth about our- 
selves. The old French phrase, Honz soit qui mal y pense expresses a 
profound spiritual truth. It is evil to him who evil thinks. The 
brown shadow which he sees is the dull reflection of the brown soul 
within. It is a simple matter to test the quality of one’s soul by notic- 
ing carefully the quality of the first thoughts which come into the 
mind in response to the daily relationships with those around us. 
Do we discover shortcomings, and ulterior motives? Does envy, 
criticism, snobbery or censoriousness rise up within us? If so the 
fountain spring of our life needs cleansing. If joy, sympathy, appre- 
ciation and friendliness rise spontaneously within us as others come 
near us, we may be sure that the love of God has been at work creat- 
ing purity in the soul. 

This gift of a clean heart is a mighty protection against the mire 
of the world. It throws off impurities by the force of the life within, 
provided we renew its strength constantly by association with God. 
There are uncounted moments when the mind falls back upon itself 
in relaxation. Thoughts of some kind will rise to meet us. If we hold 
in reserve one of the matchless sayings of Jesus, or the poetic lines of 
a psalm, or recall the picture of some incident in the life of Christ, 
or some beautiful parable of nature, or revelation of God in a friend, 
we can make our idle moments pure and clean. Then when we return 
to the world we shall have new power with which to withstand the 
appeal of evil. 

Is there anything more enviable than that experience of which the 
poet sings, 

“My strength is as the strength of ten 
Because my heart is pure. 


Purity is always courageous. It has nothing to fear. It has no mixed 
motives, but is simple and direct. Most of us are not naturally this 
way. We plunge into strife and disunion without a thoroughly clean 
mind and accomplish nothing more than a compromise between 
opposing forces. The work of the Church, and the community halts 
because of this. Each group sees in the other the reflection of its own 
spirit. How much of this strife would be saved if every member of 
the group, or even a few rare souls, fought out first in his own heart 
the battle of mixed motives and came forth a pure-minded soul ready 
to be an ambassador of Christ, and to represent His name and spirit. 


THE SPIRIT OF PURITY 145 


The political world and the varied groups of workers need the armor 
of crystal purity. It is the supreme quality for all leadership. People 
trust and follow gladly the men and women who meet this test. Never 
as now was there a time when the world needed such leaders. Who 
will pay the price in his own soul? 

Purity of heart is essential for the life of the body. Every bit of 
the physical mechanism is sensitive to the darkness of the soul and 
wreaks its vengeance upon it. When purity is gone everything crashes 
to ruin. The window of the spirit is darkened, and the vision of God 
has gone. As Jesus said, “If the light that is in thee be darkness, how 
great is that darkness.’”’? No one can rise to the dignity of a human 
soul and neglect the clean heart. It was for the sake of this, that 
Christ died for the world, to wash away the stains of an evil con- 
science and make it possible for us to see God and be transformed 
from character to character, into His image. 

“Spirit of ‘purity and grace, 
Our weakness pitying see, 


O make our hearts Thy dwelling-place 
And worthier Thee.” Harriet Auber. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy 
whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole 
body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the hght that is in thee be 
darkness, how great is the darkness! Matt. 6 : 22-23. 

And he called to him the multitude again, and said unto them, Hear 
me all of you, and understand: There is nothing from without the man, 
that going into him can defile him: but the things which proceed out of 
the man are those that defile the man. For from within, out of the heart 
of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 
covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, 
foolishness: all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man. 

Mark 7 : 14, 15, 21, 22, 23. 


In a recent autobiography the writer says of the difference between 
herself and her sister, “I tell people the truth about themselves but 
L— made them feel it.’”?’ That is how the quality of purity shows 
itself. It is felt more than it can be described. The purity of a pane 
of glass depends on the degree to which the glass itself is invisible, and 
the landscape beyond is visible. 

There is a great cry among the rising generation for reality. “We 
want to see things as they are without any sugar-coating,” said a 
young student. If sugar-coating means glossing over the ugly facts 


146 THE CRYSTALLINE LENS OF THE SOUL 


of life with deceiving whiteness, the impatience of youth is justified. 
If, however, it means actual experience with evil, the very reality that 
we seek will escape us because when the pure medium of vision is 
smirched we do not see things as they are. People who accustom 
themselves to vulgarity lose the power to see vulgarity in its true 
character, and also fail to see the beauty of delicacy. Experience may 
ruin the standards of generations and darkness of soul is the end. 
Someone may suggest that evil may enhance the beauty of good by 
contrast. That is true 1f the love of good is already the passion of one’s 
life. How shall we love good unless we live with it and delight in it! 

The spirit of purity is born within the heart. Environment does not 
create it. It only furnishes food for what is already within the heart. 
Beautiful and sheltered surroundings do not prevent vulgarity in the 
heart. Many a favored child of fortune has developed the soul of a 
savage. 

The list of evils which Jesus said come out from within and defile 
the man begin with evil thoughts and end with foolishness. The 
spirit of purity develops from pure thinking. If children are brought 
up in an atmosphere where every motive of others is questioned and 
suspected, and ideals of life are looked at cynically, and if there is no 
responsibility for service given them, evil thoughts and foolishness 
and all that comes between are likely to become habitual when they 
are grown. The natural facts of life, when used with an evil signif- 
icance, become impure. 

All our appreciations of beauty, all true sense of values, all reality 
of God, all sincere experience are born of a pure heart, because they 
are reflected through this crystalline lens of the soul. A boy once said 
of his mother: ‘‘There is something about her that makes me feel 
clean; it is nothing she says: — it’s Just mother.” Nothing can break 
the power of such a relationship. It has been expected of women that 
they should hold purity as their most cherished ideal. It has made 
them divinities to men. In this day when both men and women face 
the same experiences in life, the ideal of purity must be cherished by 
both alike. One half of society cannot retain its ideals when the 
other half esteems them lightly. Both are equally tempted, from 
different angles, to eat freely of the tree of the knowledge of good and 
evil, and unless the face of God is more precious than experience, 
both will again be driven into the outer darkness. ‘Blessed are the 
pure in heart: for they shall see our God.” (Matt. 6 : 8). 


p THE SPIRIT OF PURITY 


Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires 
known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse the 
thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy 
Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee, and worthily 
magnify Thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. Bishop Leofric A. D. 1050. 


147 


Turrty-FourtH WEEK 
THE SPIRIT OF THANKFULNESS 


A grateful heart is the surest sign that the soul is awake and 
alive to the glory of life. It is the line of separation between the 
instincts of the animal and the urge of the spirit. It is the first step 
toward a loving God. Browning grasped this truth in his pointed 
question: 

“For what are men better than sheep or goats 
That nourish a blind life in the brain, 


If knowing God they lift not thankful hearts in prayer 
Both for themselves and those whom they call friend?”’ 


In spite of this, however, the spirit of thankfulness is rare. It is so 
easy to satisfy ourselves with the rich experiences of life which we 
take as our natural right that, before we realize it, a spirit of inde- 
pendent self-assertion has rooted itself in our hearts. “I do not care 
to be under obligations to anyone!” We often hear; “I prefer to 
stand on my own feet.” This is a praiseworthy spirit if it means that 
we propose to carry our own burdens and bear our share of responsi- 
bility, but if it breeds in us such an indifference to God and to our 
fellow beings that we acknowledge no debt to them we kill within us 
the humble childlike heart. When we put that to death we have shut 
ourselves out of the kingdom of heaven. 

In truth no one is freed from obligation to others. All the blessings 
of life which we take as an inherent right are ours only because of the 
countless services rendered us by others. The well-ordered country in 
which we live, whose protection we enjoy; the supply for all our daily 
needs, the chance to work, the very opportunity to be independent 
and self-reliant, — all involve us in sacred relationships which we may 
not ignore without reverting to the lowest plane of life. God has so 
ordered the world that we are dependent one upon another to the end 
that we may recognize it with thankful hearts and be lifted up into 
the realm of friendship with God. 

Thanksgiving is not synonymous with smug satisfaction. There 
are thousands who congratulate themselves on their rich estate, that 
they were clever enough to get a running start of their fellows; that 
they are not like the poor unfortunates they see on the streets. Like 
beautiful birds pluming their feathers in the sun, they think their 
hearts are moved by the spirit of gratitude. They are only rejoicing 


148 


THE SPIRIT OF THANKFULNESS 149 


in themselves. They are taking pride in themselves; little realizing that 
the spirit of thanksgiving is a relationship of love between two spirits 
when each has given to and received from the other. Wecan never be 
thankful with ourselves. 

“The poor are so ungrateful,” said a richly dressed woman one 
day. ‘There is no use in doing anything for them; they do not appre- 
ciate it.”” It was easy to see why there could be no gratitude. Even 
a little child could have discerned that the gifts were made because 
the giver wanted for herself grateful homage as an opiate for her 
conscience and she was willing to pay for it by making gifts. This is 
why Jesus counselled us not to sound a trumpet when we give, but 
to hide ourselves so that not even our left hand should know what our 
right hand has done. True gratitude is a spontaneous lifting up of 
the spirit in response to the blessing of love. Truly 

“The gift without the giver is bare.” 

All thanksgiving runs over with the spirit of joy. We cannot help 
rejoicing when we appreciate the loving spirit of the heavenly Father 
who has given us richly all things to enjoy. A true appreciation of 
that which brings good to us is always a joyous experience. The reason 
why so many people find little joy in life is largely because they have 
their eye so fixed on some special joy which is not yet theirs that they 
do not see the other joys all about them. The real trouble with such 
people is not that their blessings are so few, but that they do not face 
the world as it is, and turn from reality to an imaginary realm. So 
long as they detach themselves from the actual relationships of life 
they cut themselves off from its joys. 

We need to deepen our appreciation of the glory in the world and 
the expression of love in the lives of others, in order that we may be 
delivered from slavery to things and enjoy the contentment of a thank- 
ful heart. To have and to possess are two different experiences. One 
may have actual flowers in one’s garden and yet live as though they 
were not there. The neighbor may possess them more really by appre- 
ciation. It is not necessary to own the woodland to enjoy it. 

When people are wrapped up in themselves they look upon the 
rest of the world and the people in it as mere stage setting for their 
personal acting. They see people performing certain functions: selling 
shoes, cooking meals, teaching children, but they are impersonal so 
far as any relation to themselves is concerned. But if we once lose 
ourselves in the love of God, people become vivid and personal and we 
begin to appreciate them and to be grateful to them. A man who was 
overflowing with gratitude for the gift of a woman’s love, found him- 


150 THE CRYSTALLINE LENS OF THE SOUL 


self looking at all other men with a new interest, wondering if they 
too had such blessing and wishing that they too might have such 
joy as his; it is the natural expression of a thankful heart. True 
gratitude is a humble thing: it wants to share its joy with others. 

There is a thanksgiving which is not necessarily pleasurable. In 
following Christ there are times when the road winds over hills of 
difficulty and the spirit loses its spontaneity as it squares its shoulders 
for the hours when courage is tested. Then we are grateful for the 
strong arm of God, for the chance to prove our devotion to Him, and 
for the sense of His nearness. Faith rather than joy is linked to our 
gratitude, and we rejoice in the victory which is yet to be. Whether 
we see the goal of our desire or not, we can rejoice in the faithfulness 
of God and give thanks for the Giver instead of the gifts. 

Nothing separates us further from God than a thankless spirit. 
It brings discord into every relationship and into our whole being. 
Shakespeare describes such a spirit in a child as “sharper than a 
serpent’s tooth.” 

“Oh that men would praise the Lord for His loving kindness 
And for His wonderful works to the children of men! 


And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, 
And declare His works with singing.”’ 


Praise, my soul, the King of heaven, 

To his feet Thy tribute bring; 

Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, 

Who like me, his praise should sing? 

Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, 
Praise the everlasting King. Henry F. Lyte, 1834. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


I will give Thee thanks with my whole heart; 

Before the gods will I sing praises unto Thee. 

I will worship toward Thy holy temple, 

And give thanks unto Thy name for Thy loving kindness and for Thy truth: 
For Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name. 

In the day that I called Thou answeredst me, 

Thou didst encourage me with strength in my soul. Psalms 138 : 1-8. 


And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye 
were called in one body; and be ye thankful. Col. 3: 16. 


In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication 
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 
Phil. 4: 6. 
Thanksgiving is the most neglected of all spiritual gifts. When 
the message of Jesus to the world began to be understood, the sheer 


THE SPIRIT OF THANKFULNESS 151 


joy of it affected the music in people’s souls and gave the inspiration 
for all the triumphant harmonies of western music. Thanksgiving 
abounded. We in the twentieth century are so blasé about everything 
that it is as much effort to lift our hearts as it would be to climb a 
rope to the ceiling in a gymnasium. Only those can do it who have the 
habit. 

Many people express thanksgiving only in return for material 
things. They measure their blessings by the number of things they 
possess, and gratitude then is synonymous with self-satisfaction. 
There is irony in that story of the old woman who summed up her 
blessings in the words,“I am thankful for two teeth that bite.” When 
old age brings no higher satisfactions the soul has missed the whole 
meaning of life. What a contrast we have in the spirit of Habakkuk, 
the prophet, who soars above us all in his spirit. “‘For though the 
fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall the fruit be in the vines; the 
labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no food; the flock 
shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 
yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” 
(Hab. 3: 17,18). If such a situation occurred in our agricultural 
districts we would appoint a day for mourning instead of thanksgiving. 

When the Pharisee went up to the Temple to pray, our Lord says 
he prayed with himself and said, ‘“God,:I thank Thee that I am not 
as the rest of men —’”. Here gratitude is merely pride. How often we 
masquerade as thankful spirits when we are bursting with vainglory. 
This is one of the reasons why there is so little joy in our Christian life. 
We haven’t yet learned the meaning of the word gratitude. 

A group of students returned from Christmas holidays and were 
comparing notes. One was thankful for a large cheque; another 
rejoiced in a new car, and another in choice books. One boy was 
silent. When asked about his Christmas joy, he replied, “I was thank- 
ful to make ten little newsboys happy.” He alone had the point of 
view of Christ. Thanksgiving is a spirit we call out in others; it is 
the spirit that gives rather than gets. How can we share the joy of 
God when we sit like the rich man in Luke 16 : 19, faring sumptuously, 
while the beggar lives on the crumbs that fall from our table. We 
cannot picture Christ sitting beside the rich man. He has nothing in 
common with the self-satisfied spirit. The true picture of the God we 
worship is found in the Shepherd who could not rest in the warm, 
protected fold while one sheep was out in the storm and darkness. 
Does His shout of thanksgiving wake any response in us, ‘Rejoice 
with me for I have found my sheep which was lost,” (Luke 15 : 6). 


152 THE CRYSTALLINE LENS OF. THE SOUL 


Perhaps the reason why we find it hard to lift up our hearts is because 
we have not yet found the satisfaction of the Master. 


My heart is fixed, O God; 
I will sing, yea I will sing praises, even with my glory. 
I will give thanks unto Thee O Lord, among the peoples: : 
And I will sing praises unto Thee among the nations. 
For Thy mercy is great above the heavens, 
And Thy truth reacheth unto the skies. Psa. 108. - 


Tuirty-Firta WEEK 
THE SPIRIT OF MERCY 


Our eyesight runs far ahead of our footsteps. Our living limps 
behind our knowledge of the truth. That which we know we should 
do, we do not always practice. Every day we have need to confess our 
shortcomings as we see ourselves in the light of Jesus Christ. We 
grow in wisdom and power from day to day reaching on and up to 
that moral perfection that God purposes for us. But we have not 
yet attained. Therefore our loving God meets the situation with the 
spirit of mercy and says, ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall 
obtain mercy.” 

It is significant that this beatitude comes immediately after the 
one which blesses those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness.” 
Those of us who long to be right and realize our need so that we 
hunger for perfection, ought naturally to be filled with mercy toward 
others who are struggling on as we are. We know how it feels to fall 
short of our ideals. We know how hard it is to be true to our Lord, 
therefore we ought to appreciate the need of others. Strange as it 
may seem, it is one of the besetting sins of human nature that we 
apply the standard of perfection to others and fail to apply it to our- 
selves. Our judgment is more accurate than our practice. We find it 
hard to forgive in others that which we excuse in ourselves. 

It is not easy to live up to two opposing standards at the same 
time. Righteousness and tenderness are blended to make mercy. We 
run from one extreme to the other. Our sense of righteousness makes 
us hard and unflinching and our tenderness too often is spineless. 
To achieve both at once, — that is the peculiar glory of the Christ 
whose whole life was spent in being just and merciful. His teaching is 
very clear and plain. We are to be merciful because we need mercy 
from God. Furthermore Jesus says very clearly that unless we show 
mercy to others we cannot expect mercy from God, and unless we 
forgive the shortcomings in others we cannot hope to be forgiven by 
Him. He taught us to pray that God would be as merciful to us as 
we are to others. 

Herein lies the reason why some of us are yet slaves in sinning 
against our ideals. We cherish in our hearts bitterness and prejudice 
and malice until love is driven out and there is no inner atmosphere 
in which the Spirit of God can live and thrive. Love is the life energy 
going out to God and to others, and mercy is merely love in action. If 


153 


154 THE CRYSTALLINE LENS OF THE SOUL 


love ceases to move toward others it ceases to move toward God and 
there can be no forgiveness, because without love we shall not desire 
to restore a relationship of love. 

It is of the utmost importance to our peace of mind and health 
of body that we open our hearts to the spirit of mercy. Most of the 
influences that break down our health are the depressing and bitter 
experiences we have with other people. They are critical of us and 
we shrivel up. They oppose our progress and we spend wakeful hours 
in anxiety and fears. They are indifferent to us and we are lonely and 
depressed. If there rises within us a spirit of malice or anger we feel 
the effects of it at once in our minds and bodies. Sometimes sensitive 
souls are inhibited for years by some past experience with some one 
whom they cannot forgive. There is no remedy for soul or body until 
we begin to cultivate the inner spirit of mercy. It is used constantly 
by our Lord in reference to the undeserving and to enemies. Mercy 
loves its enemies, prays for them and pities them because of what they 
have to overcome before they can find peace. The spirit of mercy is 
the spirit of sympathy. 

Jesus Christ pointed out a way in which we can rise to the height 
of assuring mercy for those who are undeserving. We are to turn away 
from the thought of their sins and to enter into our inner room, and 
there see ourselves in the light of God’s presence, then we shall see 
how far short we have come in our own inner life and when we remember 
that, “his tender mercies are over all his works,” while we struggle to 
have mercy toward a few, we realize our own shortcomings. From 
such a contemplation of fact we return with new tenderness and find 
it easier to let mercy have sway in our hearts. 

There is also another method of releasing the spirit of mercy. 
When we begin to do others some real service, our attitude changes. 
We may not have any special emotion about it, but if our will is bent 
on right conduct, the sentiments will come in time. We are to do good 
whether we feel like it or not, and as we do it the feeling will come. 
There is nothing more sublime in all the life of Christ than the prayer 
he put into words at the very moment when He was being nailed to 
the Cross by His enemies, ‘‘Father, forgive them: they know not what 
they do.” In the face of this supreme spirit of mercy we stand in 
silence, — His love never failed for one moment. The physical effort 
to concentrate on this act of mercy when he was suffering must have 
been beyond anything we know. Only a heart that was all love could 
have been able to do this. 


A divine imagination can help us to be merciful sometimes when 


THE SPIRIT OF MERCY 155 


the enmity of others makes it especially difficult. We can look at 
facts as they are and then form a mental picture of what the unlovable 
soul would be like if the Spirit of Christ were released within him. 
Jesus looked at a fickle, impulsive, tempestuous man and said, ‘‘Thou 
art Simon, but thou shalt be Peter.’”’ And in the months that followed 
He helped the Simon to decrease and the Peter to increase. There is 
a Christ in chains in every life waiting to be released and to transform 
enmity into love, and malice into mercy. Perhaps we can help to 
hasten that day in the life of some one for whom we find it difficult to 
pray. Some day if we are faithful we may be one of those surprised 
souls who are to hear the word of their Lord. “I was in prison and ye 
came unto me .... inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my 
brethren, even the least, ye did it unto me.” 


“OQ God of mercy, God of might, 
In love and pity infinite, 
Teach us, as ever in Thy sight, 
To live our life to Thee. 


In sickness, sorrow, want, or care, 
Whate’er it be, ’tis ours to share; 
May we, where help is needed, there 
Give help as unto Thee.” 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, 
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, 
What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, 
Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour 
as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and 
thou shalt live. But he, desiring to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And 
who is my neighbour? Jesus made answer and said, A certain man was 
going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, which 
both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead, 
and by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw 
him, he passed by on the other side. And in like manner a Levite also, 
when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. 
But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when 
he saw him, he was moved with compassion, and came to him, and bound 
up his wounds, pouring on them oil and wine; and he set him on his own 
beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the 
morrow he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said, 
Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, I, when I come 
back again, will repay thee. Which of these three, thinkest thou, proved 
neighbour unto him that fell among the robbers? And he said, he that 
shewed mercy upon him. And Jesus said unto him, Go,"and do thou like- 
wise. Luke 10 : 25-37. 


156 THE CRYSTALLINE LENS OF THE SOUL 


He ;hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord 
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly, 
with thy God. Micah6: 8. 


Mercy is a social spirit. It always involves a relationship with some 
one. It is the way we interpret the love of God to our fellows. In 
this matchless story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus binds together 
religion and ethics in practical living. Before His time religion and 
morality were not always inseparable. Obedience and justice were stern 
qualities and it was the teaching of Christ which united love for God 
and love for our neighbor in one indivisible bond. The ideal of mercy, 
which some of the prophets saw, became a great reality in the person 
of Jesus. Truth and mercy cannot be divided without destroying the 
Christian ideal. 

The lawyer asked a pertinent question when he said, ““Who is my 
neighbor?” or literally, “Who is near me?”’ If loving God and loving 
my neighbor are equally binding, how far am I to go in my human 
relation? Jesus describes both the neighbor and neighborliness in 
this story. A human being is robbed and left dying on the main 
highway. He cannot help himself. This man whose business is religion 
sees him and passes by without being merciful. Then the unexpected 
happens. Another human being of a country despised by the religious 
land comes along, and he stops and cares for the man and takes the 
time to bring him to an inn, and pays for his care. He must have been 
delayed in his business. It took time to show mercy. Perhaps the 
priest and the Levite had important religious engagements to keep so 
that they had no time for mercy. Some one has said that the godly 
are so unhuman and the human are so ungodly that the world cannot 
find a perfect revelation of the heart of, God. 

Jesus certainly meant us to be neighbor to anyone, anywhere, of 
any race, or faith. The whole world is our neighborhood. Our soul, 
our neighbor, and our God are so inextricably bound together that 
when we lose sight of one we lose sight of all. As Ernest Crosby 
puts it: 

‘“‘No one could tell me where my soul might be, 


I searched for God, but God eluded me, 
I sought my brother out, and found all three.” 


The world is getting smaller. Transportation outruns brother- 
hood. We can hear our brother whisper across the sea and the whole 
world knows when he is wounded. The spirit of mercy alone can 
insure our safety. Our animosities, our narrow prejudices must be put 
away or we shall have no peace. There are neighbors near to us who 


THE SPIRIT OF MERCY 157 


will never have a clearer vision of God than they get through us. Our 
lives are the only Bible they will read. Our own salvation depends 
upon the measure of mercy within us. ‘Forgive us our debts as we 
forgive our debtors,” our Lord taught us to pray; which means that we 
are asking God to show us the same kind of mercy we show to others. 
Are we satisfied to have it so? 


Father of mercies, help us to remember what we owe 
Thee. May we give to others the care and love with 
which Thou hast surrounded us. Make us tender in 
heart, faithful in service, forgiving in spirit and under- 
standing in sympathy. "May the children of men find 
it easier to draw near to Thee because of us. Help us to 
hasten the time when all shall know Thee from the least 
unto the greatest; through Jesus Christ our Lord who 
came to seek and to find all those who have strayed from 
the true path. Amen. 


TuHirtTy-SixtH WEEK 
THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH 


When Pilate, the Roman governor, was conducting the trial of 
Jesus he asked curiously, ‘“‘What is truth?” He received no answer. 
He was interested like many others in an academic discussion of an 
abstract idea. He was seeking a definition of words which would fit 
into his scheme of thinking, when at that moment the incarnate spirit 
of truth stood there before him. 

That scene in the Judgment Hall has been reénacted countless 
times during the centuries since then. The One who said, “I am the 
Truth” has been ignored while men have questioned and argued, and 
tried to pare down the whole heaven to the dimensions of their little 
thoughts. But while they have been measuring infinite truth with 
their mental yardsticks, the great spirit of truth has escaped them 
and gone forth in power confounding their vision. Slowly people are 
beginning to realize that the whole of God’s universe is included in the 
truth which we seek; that Jesus Christ is the personification of it; 
and that the Spirit of God unfolds it before our eyes as fast and as 
fully as we are able to understand it and to use it. 

What wars and inquisitions, what strife and unhappy divisions, 
would the world and the Church have escaped had the plain teaching 
of Christ about the spirit of truth been followed! The experience of 
the world in seeking truth has been like the adventures of children on 
a mill pond. They have clambered into a flat-bottomed boat and skirted 
the shores which were in plain sight before them. They have seen the 
sandy bottom whose shallow depths were revealed by the sun and they 
have gone back to their evening meal with the comfortable sense of 
having conquered the laws of rowboat navigation. There was no 
mystery about the truth: it was fully understood and they rested 
their faith upon their understanding of it. 

Others, however, have a different experience. They set sail on the 
sea of truth as men sail from New York for Liverpool. There is no 
shore line perceptible to the eye; only fog and mystery and waves, 
and unplumbed depths. They cannot see their destination, and all 
the laws of mill-pond navigation avail them nothing. They have to 
live by a new law, the law of faith. They go to sleep at night confident 
that somebody is on the bridge who knows what they do not know. 
They trust in him and at the appointed time they come to their desti- 


158 


THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH 159 


nation, having learned the spacious dimensions of truth which include 
all they know and infinitely more. 

Jesus said, “I am the truth,” and when He went away He said, 
“the Spirit of truth will guide you into all the truth,” thereby implying 
that it would be an unfolding revelation through all the days to come; 
it would also stretch to the limits of the universe of God, and com- 
prehend all the laws of life. No one mind as yet can grasp it all. Each 
of us sees certain aspects of truth and others enrich our knowledge by 
the discoveries they have made. Two boys away at school were 
describing the same mountain which sheltered their home towns. 
One boy described it as long and low; the other spoke of its narrow peak. 
They disputed with one another and yet each was right, for they were 
looking at the mountain from opposite valleys. Most truths, as well 
as mountains, are too great to be grasped in their entirety from any 
one angle of vision. Pioneers, too, who climb to higher levels, get the 
first vision of the rising sun. As times go on, the light which they have 
discovered from the mountain top illumines the whole world. 

Truth demands courage and that is why so many timid people are 
afraid of it or dare not utter it. There are thousands who live for years 
without being willing to face the truth which their own hearts know. 
They fool themselves with plausible excuses and live in a state of 
moral anarchy. They struggle against the pressure of that pervading 
spirit which cannot be resisted long because it is the law of the universe. 
Woe to him who pits his puny strength against the floodtides of God. 


“Truth crushed to earth will rise again, 
The eternal years of God are hers.” 


All the blessing of human society would disappear if the spirit of 
truth were withdrawn. We build up every relationship and confidence 
in one another by the assurances of truth. No education is possible 
without a knowledge of things as they are. No friendship, no family 
life is possible unless the law of truth is the controlling law within it. 
So long as we can depend upon the truthfulness of others we can live 
in relationship with them. It is strange that we keep up so much 
sham and insincerity in our relationships: when we know that even- 
tually the living truth will manifest itself. Nothing can resist it. 

Modern psychology emphasizes the value of admitting to our- 
selves the truth concerning our thoughts and instincts in order to 
control them. If we repress them and refuse to recognize them they are 
likely to break forth in some abnormal way, often bringing on serious 
neurotic conditions. When, however, the disturbing thought of fear, 


160 THE CRYSTALLINE LENS OF THE SOUL 


or anxiety, or evil desire, comes into the mind and we recognize it 
clearly and acknowledge its character, we shall then be able to control 
it and redirect it to higher purposes. All the resources of the will come 
to our help when we are committed to truth in our inner life, and are 
ready to look facts in the face. We then can pray with a definite 
assurance that all the strength of God is with us to work out His 
purpose. 

There is no one path of truth by which God manifests Himself to 
us. We see Him primarily in the Christ, and in the revelation of truth 
through His church, and in every good and perfect gift which comes 
from God. The parables of Jesus, the discoveries of astronomy, the 
Sermon on the Mount, and the laws of electricity are all part of the 
truth of God. The colors on the wing of an insect and the glories of 
the sunset are all one in the expression of the truth of God. 

To be in harmony with the eternal spirit of truth is the most rest- 
ful, and the most triumphant state to which any human being can 
attain. God then has right of way in our life and will do ‘‘exceeding 
abundantly beyond what we ask or think, according to the power that 
worketh in us.”’ If only we have the courage to rank ourselves on the 
side of truth, to yearn for it as a hungry man yearns for bread and to 
follow it obediently, even the least of us may see the mighty works of 
God. 

Strong Son of God, immortal Love, 
Whom we, that have not seen Thy face, 


By faith, and faith alone, embrace, 
Believing where we cannot prove; 


Thou seemest human and divine; 
The highest, holiest manhood, Thou, 
Our wills are ours, we know not how, 
Our wills are ours, to make them Thine. 
Tennyson 1850. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one 
cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14: 6. . 

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all 
the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; he shall declare unto you 
the things that are to come. John 16: 12, 18. 


If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples; and ye shall 
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8 : 31, 32. 


God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have 
fellowship with Him, and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the 


THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH 161 


truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship 
one with another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all 
sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth 
isnotinus. J John 1 : 5-8. 


For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and 
truth. Eph. 6: 9. 


In his discussion of “The Religious Education of an American 
Citizen,’ Prof. Francis F. Peabody says in conclusion, ‘‘each step in 
this series of reflections on religious education brings one nearer to a 
single personality and influence. It is as though one’s thought had 
revolved in the circumference of life, and was finally drawn as by some 
law of spiritual attraction toward a single centre. Each line of discus- 
sion or description, as it has been followed to its interior meaning, has 
led to some aspect of the teaching or example of Jesus Christ. . .. 
A modern life, as it interprets its own problems, is led inward to the 
teachings of Jesus; and the teaching of Jesus, followed outward, 
brings one to his immediate duty in the modern world. It is not so 
important to determine where to start as it is to find the Way. Jesus 
Christ may be either the beginning of a religious experience, or the 
end of it. . . .. Whether light shall reach the eye directly or by reflec- 
tion is not so important so long as one has light enough to see. Whether 
the Way leads from life to faith or from faith to life is not important 
so long as the Way is found and followed.’ The testimony of count- 
less educators, and religious leaders of all faiths voices the same con- 
clusion. Jesus 7s the way and the truth. No one can follow the truth 
without reckoning with Him any more than one can pilot himself 
across the seas without reckoning with the sun. 

Most of us lose a lot of time in following one gleam of light after 
another. We are like children chasing a fire-fly in the darkness. When 
we think we have it in our hand, it is gleaming fitfully in the distance. 
Jesus gave us three guides to lead us into the light. The first is the 
indwelling Spirit of truth who is to guide us into all the truth. 

“And His that gentle voice we hear, 
Soft as the breath of even, 


That checks each thought and calms each fear, 
_ And speaks of heaven.” 


One cannot prove this statement by argument. We know it by personal 
experience. If the voice is faint, it is because we are not “tuning in” 
our heart. 

The second guide is the life and teaching of Jesus. This has been 
said before, but it needs to be repeated again and again to us in order 


162 ‘THE CRYSTALLINE LENS OF THE SOUL 


to induce us really to begin to live with the words of Jesus. We assent 
to this in our mind and then go on as before, letting every foolish 
book and any peddler of vagaries crowd out the truth for which our 
soul and body starves. 

Why do we do this? Because we ignore the third guide; the light 
that is in the world for us as we walk from day to day. Do we find 
that the truth lived out in us means that we are closer one to another? 
Is it easier to overcome our sins and weaknesses? Does our truth 
separate us from holy living and holy loves, or does it lead to light? 
On all sides people are saying, ‘“This is the truth; thisis the way.” 
How are we to know? Jesus’ answer is the true test. ‘The truth shall 
make you free.” It is possible to be free in thinking and enslaved in 
spirit. The freedom of Jesus brings no chaos to our being. Heart, soul, 
mind, and strength find their ordered completeness in Him. 


O God, we thank Thee that Thou hast revealed 

Thy truth to us through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Grant unto us the Spirit of truth that we may 

be guided into right ways; lighten our darkness 

with Thy wisdom and grant that we fall into no 

ay for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. 
men. 


AVAILABLE RESOURCES OF POWER 


THIRTY-SEVENTH WEEK 
REWARDS FOR THE FRIENDLY HEART 


Most of us agree with Ulysses, that hero of ancient Greek litera- 
ture, when he says, “I am a part of all that I have met.” Our per- 
sonality becomes strangely intermingled with the personality of 
others, so that it is safe to say that no one is quite the same after 
meeting us and we too are influenced and charged by the impact of 
others on us. We are a blend of our own sentiments plus those which 
have been called out by our friends, and they in turn carry away with 
them a part of us. The truest portrait of anyone is that which has been 
etehed on the hearts of those who have know him. That is the reason 
why we are often surprised at the true dimensions of a man after he 
has died. We thought him obscure and uninfluential and lo! a score 
or more of friends bear witness to his greatness, because of what he 
wrought out in them through friendship. 

The spirit within is so much greater than the body which confines 
it that its only rest comes from the joys of friendship through which 
its power finds adequate satisfaction. ‘It is not good for man to be 
alone,” we were told in the early record, and from that time down to 
the present we have needed friendship as a resource for our peace and 
health and power. When we shut ourselves away from others we are 
doing ourselves the greatest harm, in that we are limiting our possi- 
bility of greatness. The physical strain of loneliness testifies to this 
truth. 

Friends are a source of power to us because through them we sense 
the reality of spiritual values. For example, we may have a theoretical 
idea of the value of honesty, but when we see it exemplified or wanting 
in the daily life of our friends it becomes a precious reality. Every 
virtue and every God-like characteristic is vivid only as we see it 
through some human relationship. One who has fifty friends has 
an understanding of the character of God fifty times greater than 
he would have if he lived only to himself. 

Nothing gives such a peculiar buoyancy to one’s spirit as the 
love of others. We know that God is love theoretically until we experi- 


163 


164 AVAILABLE RESOURCES OF POWER 


ence what it means through others. The leader of a mission which has 
reclaimed many a life from the scrap heap, once said that he had never 
been able to convince any man of the love of God who had not some- 
where in his life had the love of a mother. No matter how far afield 
a man may go in his later years, the love of God is vivid to him if out 
of the memory of the past someone, like unto a mother, has personified 
love for him. 

We need friends to hold us true to our best selves. The confidence 
which others place in us is the most effective stimulus for fine living. 
It nerves us for valiant achievement. My power for success is largely 
dependent upon the resources of confidence which are made available 
for me through my friends. Most of us would attempt the impossible 
if our friends expected it of us, after the manner of a small boy who 
will not refuse a dare. Most of our real courage also comes only when 
we are brave for the sake of others. The actual helplessness and expec- 
tation of those who depend upon us for help inspires a power beyond our 
own. Some of us are suffering from feeble health because we have 
succeeded in shutting ourselves away so completely from the need of 
others that we never get away from ourselves. An investment in 
friendship would yield large returns in physical buoyancy. 

The achievement of others whom we love and long to be 
near is in itself a great influence which pulls us along in spite of our- 
selves. We do not like to be at the tail end of the procession. An 
invalid mother began to realize that her only son was beginning to 
outdistance her in his school studies. She resolved to keep up with 
him in order to hold his respect. Before a year had passed she was 
deep in special educational courses, and a well woman. Thus does 
the friendly heart inherit the ambitions of its friends. The tastes, 
careers, and standards of others become our own. We acquire them 
almost without effort. Few of us realize how we are influenced or 
inhibited by our social group. 

Much is being written to-day about the power of the innumerable 
company, of those who have gone ahead of us, to reinforce us with 
their wisdom and protection. This is true in so far as it coincides 
with the law of friendship. The influence of a spirit does not depend 
on bodily presence. We may be sitting next to semeone, and yet be 
thousands of miles apart; or we may be separated from our friends 
halfway around the globe and yet find them intimately near. Real 
absence is merely a retirement within oneself. When the mutual 
give and take of love is cut off between two human spirits, they are 
as remote as the east is from the west. Therefore the reality of a 


REWARDS FOR THE FRIENDLY HEART 165 


presence may be great or small as we will it to be. Jesus said to those 
who were to continue his work, ‘‘Lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world.” (Matt. 28 : 20). He took it for granted that 
their oneness with Him in love and purpose would bring His presence 
and help intimately nigh. Presence knows no limits of space or time. 
If God is present everywhere, surely those spirits who are one with 
Him, and with whom we are one in love, must be helping us with their 
love and strength every day. Thus our power is greater for personal 
victory and service. Our sense of values becomes more accurate, also, 
as we see them in the distance. The sublimation of our friendship 
enables us to judge its true value in contrast with our daily career. 

It is a marvellous resource of power; — this connection through 
love with all the strength and kindred purpose of the ages. No matter 
how weak we may be in physical powers, our friendly heart may avail 
itself of all power. The kind of energy we draw upon is conditioned 
by the character of that with which we are at one. If we are one with 
evil, evil powers reinforce us; they cannot touch us unless they find a 
kindred spirit in us. Even so the powers of good are ours if the love of 
goodness is within us; if it is not there, they cannot help us. 

O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold, 
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, 


And win with them, the victor’s crown of gold 
Alleluia! 


O blest communion, fellowship divine! 
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; 
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine 
Alleluia! 
W. Walsham How 1864. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon 
our beloved and fellow-worker, I beseech thee for my child, whom I have 
begotten in fmy bonds, Onesimus, who was aforetime unprofitable to 
thee, but now is profitable to thee and to me: whom I have sent back to 
thee in his own person, that is, my very heart: whom I would fain have 
kept with me, that in thy behalf he might minister unto me in the bonds 
of the gospel: but without thy mind I would do nothing; that thy goodness 
should not be as of necessity, but of free will. For perhaps he was there- 
fore parted from thee for a season, that thou shouldest have him for ever; 
no longer as a servant, but more than a servant, a brother beloved, specially 
to me, but how much rather to thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord. 
If then thou countest me a partner, receive him as myself. But if he hath 
wronged thee at all, or oweth thee aught, put that to mine account 

Philemon 1: 1, 10-18. 


166 AVAILABLE RESOURCES OF POWER 


The true spirit of love transcends all social distinctions. What 
could be more perfect than this extract from the letter of St. Paul, 
that greatest apostle of Jésus, to the influential Philemon in the 
interests of a poor runaway slave Onesimus? In it are all 
the implications of friendship. If we could live according 
to this teaching, we should be able to solve every social and 
international problem. 

Let us note that to St. Paul, the soul of a slave was of equal impor- 
tance with the souls of Czsar’s household. Position is merely acci- 
dental. An emperor and a slave have the same capacity for immor- 
tality. Even though the days of opportunity for service were short, 
a slave, and a bad one at that, had a claim on the friendship of the 
representative of Jesus Christ. Jesus died for all; therefore all must 
be of vital concern to those of us who love Him. Think of what this 
belief would do in destroying our prejudices! 

What an exquisite description of perfect friendship: “ His own 
person, that ts, my very heart’’! Is this our ideal of love? How does it 
fulfill the command, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself?” We 
apply this description perhaps to one or two people whom we love: 
but how far would we have to change our ideals before we could say 
this truthfully about someone at the other end of the social ladder? 
St. Paul, the intellectual giant, finding his own heart in the, person of 
an ignorant slave! We know that this is a God-like quality because 
it is so far from the ordinary human ideal. 

Our civilization is torn by bitterness over class distinctions. Many 
social prophets trust to economic readjustments to remove the antag- 
onism. If we looked at our personal relationships as not transient but 
eternal we would find it easier to transmute service into brotherhood. 
Friendship is our eternal bond. How our domestic life would be changed 
if everyone who serves the necessities of our life were not only a ser- 
vant but more than a servant, a brother beloved. How far would our 
social order have to be reconstructed to put it on this basis? Are we 
ready to inherit the lasting rewards of the friendly spirit? 

The friendly heart places its resources at the disposal of the friend 
who is in need. An ungenerous friend is a misnomer, for love is ever 
giving and using its resources to help establish brotherhood. Resources 
are merely opportunities for service; they were never meant to be 
opportunities for the display of power. How would our life be changed 
if we really received every one as the Master Himself? That will be 
the real test in that day when we shall have to give an account of our 
human relationships. “I was a stranger, and ye took me not in.” 


REWARDS FOR THE FRIENDLY HEART 167 


When? “Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it 
not unto me.” (Matt. 25 : 43-48). 


Our Lord and Master, Thou hast given Thyself for the life 
of the world. Thou hast said that it is not the will of 
God that one of these little ones should perish. Forgive 
us that so many of Thy children perish and die while 
we care not for them. ‘Take from us that spirit which 
indulges itself and withholds the means of life from 
others. How can we escape Thy wrath when we call 
Thee Lord, and yet refuse to minister unto Thee? 
Turn Thou our hearts we beseech Thee; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 


Tuirty-Eiauta WEEK 
SUBLIMATING OUR INSTINCTS 


Every normal human being is born with certain instincts which are 
the inheritance of the ages. They are the stuff from which character 
is made. They cannot be acquired, or eliminated, therefore we are not 
responsible for having them. 

Psychologists classify them differently, but the most important 
instincts are flight (with its emotion of fear), sex, parenthood, curi- 
osity, the herd or social instinct, self-abasement, repulsion, ambition, 
self-assertion, acquisition and pugnacity. Every one of us has all of 
these, though they may not all be active at the same time. Sometimes 
an instinct may lie dormant in us for years until an occasion calls it 
forth. No one of us can glory over another, for all alike, good and 
bad, have the same instincts. They are like dynamos, full of emotional 
energy, supplying power alike to the passions and the will. : 

Our instincts are not good or bad in themselves, but they become 
so according to the purposes for which they are used. For example 
the instinct of ambition may be rightly directed toward the supply 
of the necessities of life, or it may be perverted and used for avaricious 
hoarding and robbery. We are discovering that many nervous diseases 
come from the repression of natural instincts which emerge into our 
conscious life in abnormal ways. We have already seen how fear when 
if is repressed shows itself in paralyzing effects and in moral diseases. 

The dominance of certain instincts in us is largely due to early 
training and to circumstances; and our life careers are the natural 
result of this “bent” as we call it. A child in whom curiosity has been 
developed would be happy in scientific work, and unhappy in the réle 
of business in which his acquisitive companion rejoices. It is also true 
that certain instincts succeed one another in power at different times. 
We see these desires asserting themselves in children at different 
ages. Each instinct in turn has its phase of activity. The training and 
education of the child determines which will be the strongest in adult 
life. 

There are three things we need to know about our instincts: the 
original nature and end toward which they are directed; the precise 
danger of perverting them; and the possibility of redirecting their 
energy to higher ends. If we understand ourselves and our dangers 
we shall be able to work with the great purposes of God rather than 
to become the victims of our own ungoverned powers. We can subli- 


168 


SUBLIMATING OUR INSTINCTS. 169 


mate every instinct if we will, and make it work out our salvation. 
We do not need to repress any of them; they can serve our highest 
purpose, and become the means of unfolding glories in life which we 
have scarcely suspected. 

When we sublimate an instinct we direct it from its original end 
to some other end which is more satisfying and of real value. Even 
that common foe, fear, may become a virtue. We usually direct it 
toward anxiety or pervert it by attaching it to imaginary objects or 
those which ought not to inspire fear. We can sublimate it into alertness 
and caution. It should lead to a carefulness which is the opposite of 
carelessness. When we are told to work out our salvation ‘‘with fear 
and trembling”’ it is this sublimated fear which the writer has in mind. 
Much of the modern attitude toward the evil of all fear has resulted 
in a Christianity which is sickly and sentimental. A fear lest we come 
short of the highest ideals is necessary if there is to be any earnestness. 
One reason why we have so many perverted fears that are imaginary 
and nerve-racking is that we have removed all wholesome fear from 
life so that there is an excess of instinctive anxiety which takes its 
vengeance on our health and on our morals. The Psalmist was right 
when he sang, ‘“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” 
(Psa. 111: 10). We cannot eradicate fear from our hearts: therefore 
let us not pervert it, but direct it toward God and our destiny. 

The instinct of sex is the most repressed and least understood of 
all our natural impulses. It is concerned with reproduction as a 
natural end. Most people have an excess of this repressed instinct 
because often there is no opportunity for its natural use, and also 
because of past training we try to ignore it as much as possible, as 
something of which to be ashamed. Asa result comes sex perversion. 

No instinct can be sublimated for such divine ends as the sex 
instinct. All the arts, like music, painting, poetry; all the creative 
work, the outreach of love, are the higher forms of this life force. We 
need all we have and more for this kind of sublimation. If people could 
realize what this costly power could do for them they would be less 
likely to throw it away on mere sex feeling. The creation of the race 
and all the creative work of the soul lie at the heart of this instinct. 
It is fair to suppose that most of us could find deliverance from many 
of our ills if we recognized this sex instinct as a precious possession 
and determined to use it to develop the latent genius within, instead 
of fighting it as an enemy. Herein lies spiritual victory. As Carlyle 
says, “Produce! Produce! Were it but the pitifulest infinitesimal 
fraction of a product, produce it, in God’s name!” 


170 AVAILABLE RESOURCES OF POWER 


No sublimation can be really satisfying unless it is of value to the 
community. We are all so interwoven with the social fabric that we 
dare not forget it. Our social instincts are so strong that they cannot 
be repressed without throwing the whole life out of balance. Each 
one of us reaches the highest self-expression when we find it in some 
work for the common good. 

Christianity is the only power which enables us to take all of our 
instincts and use all their energy for our highest development. Even 
pugnacity can be sublimated by turning that force to account in over- 
coming evil with good. The Church satisfies the herd, or social instinct, 
and the acquisitive desire can be turned to laying up treasures of 
eternal value. Our love for the Christ brings in one central life of the 
soul. We cannot deal with ourselves in fragments. We reach our 
ideal only when we sublimate the whole. 


My soul, be on thy guard; 

Ten thousand foes arise; 

A host of sins are pressing hard 

To draw thee from the skies. 

Ne’er think the victory won, 

Nor lay thine armour down; 

Thy arduous work will not be done 

Till thou obtain thy crown. George Heath 1781. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


But there was a certain man, Simon by name, which beforetime in the 
city used sorcery, and amazed the people of Samaria, giving out that 
himself was some great one. 

Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 
Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the 
Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this 
power, that on whomsoever I lay my hands, he may receive the Holy 
Ghost. But Peter said unto him, ‘‘Thy silver perish with thee, because 
thou hast thought to obtain the gift of God with money. Thou hast 
neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right before God. 
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray the Lord, if perhaps 
the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee. For I see that thou art in 
the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. And Simon answered, 
and said, Pray ye for me to the Lord, that none of the things which ye 
have spoken come uponme. Acts. 8 : 9, 17-24. 


They were not able to enter in because of unbelief. Let us fear there- 
fore, lest haply, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of 
you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good 
tidings preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did 
not profit them, because they were not united by faith with them that 
heard. Heb. 3: 19, 4:1, 2. 


SUBLIMATING OUR INSTINCTS 171 


The story of Simon illustrates the perversion of two primitive 
instincts: the desire for self-assertion and the instinct of acquisition. 
We could not do without the inborn impulse to self-assertion. All our 
individuality comes from it, and the advancement of the race and the 
growth of personality are dependent upon it. Simon perverted his 
desire for individuality by the use of sorcery which duped the mass of 
intelligent people around him. He asserted himself by illegitimate 
means. He was not really greater than those about him but advertised 
himself as great. Is he a unique character? In the light of this story it 
would be enlightening to read the modern publicity of those who 
claim to be able to do the works of God; to make people well, rich, 
successful by some infallible philosophy. One of the sure signs of this 
perverted instinct of self-display is that the instinct of acquisition is 
also perverted. Simon grew rich through the selling of his secrets of 
life. This was a perversion, because money cannot buy life and the 
power of God. Life is not a trick but an experience. The power of 
God is as free as the air we breathe and cannot be held, or given by 
anyone. Peter had the true insight to see that Simon’s inner self was 
not right. Note that Simon is more afraid of personal hardship than 
of an insincere heart. We do well to ask ourselves whether 
we are being exploited by men or illumined by God. If the 
commercial spirit is evident, we are likely to find that we 
are being exploited by some modern Simon. There is no 
short cut to power. The teaching of Jesus will give us the 
open secret for ourselves. 

In this warning to the Hebrews we have an illustration of the 
highest use of the instinct of fear. Its fruits are the virtues of diligence, 
prudence, caution, concentration, and humility. All these are subli- 
mations of the fear element and without them we are likely to make 
grievous mistakes. Such a fear cleanses our hearts, from ulterior 
motives and leads us into the highest wisdom. The thought that we 
may ‘‘come short” of our ideal keeps us from loitering along the path 
of life. 

Note how faith is meant to work with fear when it is re-directed to 
higher ends. The tender mother is one who has the confidence to take 
her babe in her arms and yet fears lest she may hurt it. The greatest 
skill is a blend of confidence and carefulness. Where there is no fear 
there is no carefulness. Are there any phases of our national life to-day 
which are due to the lack of this blending faith and fear? How would 
our spiritual life be purified if we sublimated our fear and made it an 
intimate friend of faith? 


172 


AVAILABLE RESOURCES OF POWER 


Our Father, wilt Thou redeem all the instincts of our 
being so that they shall help us to attain to everlasting 
life. Deliver us from the heart of unbelief, from selfish- 
ness, and everything which exalteth itself above Thee. 
Purify every desire which burns within us. May we follow 
in the steps of Jesus who came to do Thy will. Thou 
hast made us as we are; help us to be reverent toward 
all our humanity because through Thy grace it may be 
Ppa tern with glory. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
men. 


a 


Turrty-NINTH WEEK 
REINFORCING THE WILL 


_ The human will has always been recognized as a fact of central 
importance for every individual, but it has not been clearly under- 
stood. Some people have assumed that the will has perfect freedom 
to do what it likes regardless of circumstances. Many teachers and 
religious leaders have regarded it as some extraneous instrument 
which the self could use or not as it chose. We speak of a man as 
inheriting a strong will or a weak will as if it were a matter of birth 
like the color of his eyes or the features of the face. St. Paul speaks 
as though we had two wills; the will to do the will of God, and a cor- 
rupt will which is antagonistic to the good will. Some psychologists 
regard the will as the activity of the whole self but that it is sometimes 
not strong enough to hold in firm control all the impulses of the mind. 
Tennyson in his immortal words is sure that whatever the will may 
be, it is only safe in the hands of God. 


“Our wills are ours, we know not how; 
Our wills are ours, to make them Thine.’ 


The British psychologist, Hadfield, throws much light on the sub- 
ject. He writes, “When the organized self moves towards its own 
completeness we call it the will. The will is the organized self in 
function, the self in movement.” In other words the will is not an 
entity, but a function of that part of the self which is made up of all 
the sentiments and dispositions which we have accepted for ourselves. 
Outside of this organized self, according to Dr. Hadfield, are the 
unexpressed instincts and the repressed sentiments, and those unaccep- 
table experiences in life which were repugnant to us at the time and 
linger in our subconscious mind as repressed complexes. In this ‘‘Hin- 
terland” as some one calls it, smouldering fires flame up into our con- 
sciousness from time to time and conflict with our will. 

The activity of the self, t e., the will, is ever moving toward its ideal. 
When it ceases to act, the self begins to disintegrate and we are again 

_ at the mercy of the conflicting instincts with which we were born. 
_ The great problem for us all lies in the task of uniting all our instincts 
and complexes into our common purpose so that there shall be peace 
_ because the will controls the whole situation. If only a few instincts 
are held together by a common purpose, we are likely to be swept 
_ away by some unsubdued instinct which is waiting its chance to come 


173 





174 AVAILABLE RESOURCES OF POWER 


forth in power. Therefore the task of reinforcing our organized self 
is an important one both for health and morals, for the hidden fires 
devastate alike the mind and the body. 

Our will is stimulated to action by an ideal and that ideal must be 
one which will produce completeness and happiness for the self. A 
complete self is a harmonious and free self; free to act with all its 
powers toward the goal of its desire. It is at this point that we see 
the scientific value and necessity for Christianity, because the Christ 
embodies the complete ideal for our whole nature. 

At this point we ought to give thanks for parents and forebears 
who have inclined us to certain ideals and worthy ends so that the 
battle with our primitive instincts has been made easier for us. Some 
of us have not had this advantage, but we can take ourselves in hand 
now that we know what is at stake in our character. We may begin 
now, if complete inner harmony is so desirable to us that we make it 
our purpose and our will moves to that end. 

One of the best methods of strengthening the will is to acquire the 
habit of mental reflection. The strong mind acts slowly; the weak 
mind acts quickly. In his “Education of the Will,” Payot uses the 
illustration of a crystal plunged into a solution of saturated sub- 
stances which in some mysterious way draws other molecules like 
unto itself until a large crystal of beauty is formed, provided tt is kept 
perfectly quiet. If the solution is Jarred, the deposit is irregular and 
imperfect. He then points out that, “If one keeps any psychological 
state whatever in the foreground of consciousness, it will insensibly, 
by an affinity no less mysterious than the other, gradually attract to 
itself other intellectual states of the,same nature. If this ‘crystalliza- 
tion’ goes on slowly without disturbance or interruption it will ac- 
quire a remarkably strong character.” All of this has been said before 
in the discussion of the habit of prayer, and Bible study, and medita- 
tion on what is true and good and beautiful, but it is well to see that 
these acts promote not only religion but mental self-control. Those 
who discount the value of Christianity will also have to discount 
modern psychology, for both emphasize the same principles. 

Thinking intently is powerless without action. It gathers. the 
forces of the mind together for united action, but of what use is force 
unless it moves something? It must turn the wheels of service or it 
will have to return to its original elements like steam that is blown 
off into the air. We strengthen the will by concentrated action in some 
one cause rather than by spasmodic efforts in many directions. It is 
good for all of us to reorganize our daily life on a systematic basis, 


_ ao es 


——— 


REINFORCING THE WILL 175 


making regular provision for certain tasks so that they become habitual. 
The power of good habits will overturn bad habits. A word needs to 
be said concerning system in important things, for some of us are 
enslaved by a system of trifles which are of no consequence to our 
character and prevent us from having any horizon for our soul. 

At this point the Christian ideal is the way to victory. Loyalty 
to the Person of Jesus is more liberating than loyalty to a thing, how- 
ever important it may be. It takes His Personality to satisfy our 
personality. Anything less than this does not offer completeness to 
the organized self. I, who choose what sentiments shall be acceptable, 
am by nature discontented with any goal save one which brings 
understanding fellowship with a Lord, the great Ideal for all humanity. 


My will is not my own 

Till Thou hast made it Thine; 

If it would reach a monarch’s throne 

It must its crown resign: 

It only stands unbent 

Amid the clashing strife 

When on Thy bosom it has leant 

And found in Thee its life. George Matheson. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Jesus therefore answered them, and said, My teaching is not mine, 
but his that sent me. If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of 
the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak from myself. 

John 7 : 16, 17. 

And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 

Luke 6: 46. 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them 
that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children 
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye 
would not. Matt. 23: 37. 


Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal 
' life; and these are they which bear witness of me; and ye will not come to 
me, that ye may have life. John 5: 39, 40. 


Jesus always used the inductive method with His followers. He 
challenged them to test truth by the practical laboratory work of 
experience. Christianity is a way of life. It is based on laws which can 
be tested philosophically, but it has to be experienced in order to be 
understood. The teaching of Jesus is recognized as divine by those 
whose purpose and desire it is to be in harmony with God. The truth 
which comes out of life is the only kind which does not have to be 


176 AVAILABLE RESOURCES OF POWER 


proved. The thirsty man is the one who appreciates what water 
means. All the theories in the world amount to little unless there 
is some way of testing them in actual experience. 

If the will is the function of the self, then there can be no sincerity 
in heart unless the self moves through the action of the will to the end 
which is in harmony with its desire. If we call on God in prayer and 
yet do not will those things which are pleasing to Him, it proves that 
our heart has not accepted His desires as our desires. We always will 
to do what we have accepted as our desire. It is like the act of Judas 
who said one thing with his lips and mocked that with the deed of 
betrayal. What we will to do is the thing we desire to do. It is a 
solemn fact that in religion as well as in other realms of experience, 
we use certain things without being inwardly committed to them. 
People have used the influence of the Church as a means of gaining 
certain ends without accepting that for which the Church stands. 
Every person in a prominent position knows well how many there are 
who desire to do mighty works by means of his influence without any 
real connection with him. 

What a bitter disappointment it must have been to Jesus to find 
that after three years of patience and love and persuasion, the will 
of the people was still set against their own highest destiny. Even 
God with all His love cannot gather us under His protection if we will 
not let Him. All things do not come out right in the end without our 
willing coéperation. The heart of God is steadfast: if we are not enjoy- 
ing His protection and care it is probably because we have run away 
from it. 

Jesus in His person is the incarnation of all the truth and revela- 
tion of the scriptures. They pointed the way: He is the way. They 
described the life that is pleasing to God: He lived it. Even devils 
can quote scripture, but we cannot reconstruct the teaching of God from 
their lives. It is an easy thing to say, “I am a son of God because I 
search the scriptures.”’ There is no escape from living what we believe. 
In truth, even now, our conduct is expressing what we have accepted 
as our standard. The will is performing its functions: the test of what _ 
we are is our resemblance to Jesus, the perfect embodiment of the 
truth. 


REINFORCING THE WILL 


- O Lord God, Thou art an eternal will to all goodness. 
Grant that we may be as one in our beliefs and life as 
the sun and its rays are one. We thank Thee for the 
perfection of the character of Jesus. We thank Thee 
that in looking at Him we see what Thou wouldst 
have us be. May we have one desire only, — that 
Christ may be formed within our hearts that we may 
be One with Him as He is One with Thee. Help us 


to test our daily life by the standards of our Master. 


Through His name we come. Ammen. 


177 


ForTIETH WEEK 
RESTORED YEARS 


Wasted years are bitter enemies; — As we look back into the past 
most of us would give anything for the power to evade them. Lost 
opportunities cling to our minds with depressing effect the older we 
grow. Sometimes they were due to the foolish mistakes of youth, and 
oftener to the inadequate training for which we were not wholly 
responsible. The results however are the same. We have missed 
something which will never be ours again. 

If the good news which Jesus brought into the world has anything 
to say about this, one of our heaviest burdens would be lifted. Is 
there any way of salvaging the past? Is there any part of the old 
building which can be used with which to build the new? The answer 
of the Bible is emphatically ‘“‘yes.” 

Mistakes can be sublimated into wisdom after one sees their 
logical end. The natural law of cause and effect proves to us our 
folly, and we do not need further argument. The important moment 
comes when we decide what to do about the future. That is the 
point where our religion makes the great difference. If we have none, 
we will Jean in the direction of our temperament, and those instincts 
which have usually ruled our conduct, and we shall be led again into 
difficulties. This is one reason why so few criminals are reformed by 
prison life. They have the habit of being led by evil instincts and 
restraint does not weaken their desires. What they need and all of us 
sinners need, is to discover the law of life which Jesus taught us by 
which the past can be transmuted into the wisdom of God. “He 
restoreth my soul,’ sang King David from a full heart after he had 
had to face his grievous mistakes. Religion, which reached its highest 
expression in the life and death of Jesus, is the only hope for those of us 
who regret a past. We may forget it, or ignore it, but we can never 
restore it apart from the principles of life which Jesus taught. The 
whole problem of sin is involved together with the necessity for for- 
giveness, for we are morally responsible. 

We need also to salvage our outworn experiences. Some of us are 
still living in the past, crowding our souls down into the narrow con- 
fines of a child’s intelligence. We may have minds that can grasp the 
most complicated problems of business and yet pray the little prayers 
of a five-year-old and live on some past experience which once was 
real, but has long ago been outgrown. Our crude and immature con- 


178 


RESTORED YEARS 179 


ceptions of God have never been replaced by an adult ideal of an 
adequate, understanding Father; — something stopped our spiritual 
growth in childhood, and since then we have been pitiful cases of 
arrested development. A fresh experience with the teaching of Jesus 
to-day might restore years of dwarfed life. To the simple child’s faith 
might be added an understanding of God which would turn defeat into 
victory. A fresh study of Jesus’ way of life never fails to restore withered 
and stunted ideals. The ‘‘down-and-outers” are not all in the bread 
line, or on the front seats in city missions, so far as spiritual powers 
are concerned; many of them are outwardly the most successful men 
and women in a community. It will take considerable restoration 
before they grow into full citizenship in the kingdom of God. It may 
take a physical breakdown, or some great shock or some insuperable 
obstacle before some of us come to ourselves and let God restore our 
blighted spiritual capacities. 

After a year of happy life together a friend’s husband died. To one 
of her sympathetic relatives she said proudly, ‘‘I would rather have 
had only twelve months of joy with my husband than fifty years 
with any other man I have ever known!’’ Love gave her a new sense 
of relative values. It is not length of life, but quality of life that 
satisfies. Who would not rather have lived for three years as Jesus 
lived in the power of God than to have been for fifty years a Napoleon! 
How much better, too, that the remaining ten years of our human 
incarnation should be lived in spiritual victory. If the mistakes of the 
past drive us to God now, we may yet overcome them all by this renew- 
ing of our mind. 

There is another way also in which the past may be restored. 
Back in the hidden corners of our life, latent powers have been dormant 
for years because they were not called forth by a conscious relation- 
ship to God. They have been within us like seeds within the frozen 
earth. Chill winds and snows have kept them from growing. Months 
later, when the spring showers and sun reach down to them, they grow 
up to blossom and bear fruit. Had winter continued there would have 
been no harvest. In like manner our hidden powers come to fruition 
under the influence of Jesus and what we were unable to produce for 
years, now comes forth from us to bless the world. 

Many of us are at the critical moment in life when we shall either 
sink back in disillusioned obscurity, or rise up in fresh spiritual vigor. 
We need restoration for soul, and body. Between us and the new life 
is a narrow door and we hear the voice of the Christ saying, “I am 
the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved (restored) and 


180 AVAILABLE RESOURCES OF POWER 


shall go in and go out and shall find pasture.”’ We bring our wasted 
years, our outworn ideas, our sins, and our needs: and giving them 
into the keeping of the Good Shepherd, we go into the new, open 
country of opportunity. 

We shall really never know ourselves until we have this experience. 
What a surprise is in store for some of us who dare to venture. If by 
reading this, anyone sees how to sublimate a past and find a new life, 
he must not be disobedient to the heavenly vision or his last state 
will be worse than his first. If the seed does not respond to the sun 
and shower there is no future for it. 


“Perverse and foolish oft I strayed 
But yet in love He sought me 
And on His shoulder gently laid 
And home, rejoicing, brought me. 


And so through all the length of days, 
Thy goodness faileth never; 

Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise 
Within Thy house, forever.” . 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: 
for he giveth you the former rain in just measure, and he causeth to come 
down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first 
month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow 
with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust 
hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, 
my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty and 
be satisfied, and shall praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath 
dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And 
ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your 
God, and there is none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. 

Joel 2 : 23-287. 


For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain 
together until now. And not only so, but ourselves also, which have the 
first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting 
for our adoption to wit, the redemption of our body. And we know that 
to them that love God all things work together for good, even to ei 
that are called according to his purpose. Rom. 8 : 22, 23, 28. 


Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now nae 
in the flesh? Galatians 3 : 3. 

Many a man has made a fortune from the waste products of manu- 
facture. Good business requires that everything be utilized and be 
made to yield its share of profit. Why, then, should not God the 
Creator of all things be able to utilize the neglected “capacities” of 


a 


RESTORED YEARS 181 


human beings. It is the glory of our religion that we worship a God 
who does not work according to the natural law of the survival of the 
fittest, but delights to bind up that which is broken, and to strengthen 
that which is sick. The restoring power of God lifts Christianity into 
a plane far above all other religions. In India, the home of mighty 
philosophies, there is one fact which never ceases to amaze the high 
caste Brahmin. When he sees some outcast, the lowest class of human 
being, lifted by the power of the life of Jesus, into a position where 
he may qualify as a judge, or a minister of education, he is baffled. 
What philosophies and systems could not do, the restoring power of 
the Christ accomplishes easily. 

We are never content with ourselves after we see our mistakes; for 
we know we were destined for perfection and nothing short of that will 
satisfy us. Love is the restoring power. It transmutes a sense of failure 
into confidence. Many a soul has been able to rise to greatness under 
the spell of love. There is no limit to what God can do with us if we 
love Him. Then all things, past, present and future are bound to 
work together for good. It is the higher law of the spirit Geena 
the natural law of cause and effect. 

There are those who trust in past glories as a solace for ae 
humilation. How many shiftless souls pride themselves on some 
valiant ancestor. It is well, however, to remember that saying of 
Plutarch, “It is indeed a desirable thing to be well descended, but the 
glory belongs to our ancestors.”’ In our own experience we may have 
begun with God and ceased to continue with Him so that our knowl- 
edge of Him does not serve our need now. A poor woman who had 
treasured some furs for years as a relic of her former prosperity brought 
them out to be admired, only to discover that the moths had eaten 
them. We too may discover to our dismay that we have only a moth- 
eaten spiritual experience in which to glory. 

Some of us make a mistake in thinking that it is Christianity which 
needs restoring rather than our experience with it. We do not need a 
new religion, but a new honesty in living out the teaching of Jesus. 
It is not a new philosophy, but a new life. It is not a way of escaping 
from our t mistakes, but a fresh forgiveness of our sins. 


Now O God, our Saviour, we entreat Thee, subdue our 
iniquities. Only Thine Almighty arm can vanquish them. 
We look to Thee for victory. Fight for us, fight in us, 
that we may be more than conquerors, through Him 
who loved us, even Jesus Christ, our only Lord and 
Saviour. Amen. LE. Bickersteth A. D. 1786 


THE GIFTS OF UNANSWERED PRAYER 


Forty-First WEEK 
THE SITUATION INVOLVED IN GOD’S SILENCE 


Every one of us, sooner or later, has to solve the problem of 
unanswered prayer in order to keep a growing faith in God’s fatherly 
coneern for the needs of His children. We have experiences where 
God seems to be deaf to our entreaties, and the heavens are as brass. 
The whole teaching of Jesus seemed simple. He said, “‘ask and ye shall 
receive . . . for everyone that asketh receiveth,”’ and we started out 
in trust, thankful that the resources of Infinite Love were ready to 
work with us. Then there came a time when we wanted something — 
oh so much — and we asked, and waited, and no reply came — and 
we began to lose our enthusiasm and say within ourselves, ‘““There is 
nothing in prayer except the inner quiet and sense of reverence which 
frees the mind from tension and gives it a chance to exert its own 
ingenuity.” 

If this were all, we would soon cease to pray. We are so made that 
we cannot reach out continuously to an unresponsive being. We can 
do it for a time; but soon we cease, and turn to something else. What, 
then, is the meaning of this experience? 

Perhaps we have ignored the necessity for preparation of heart. 
This involves a time element which most of us forget. It is true that 
we may speak to God instantly in time of need and the consciousness 
of His nearness will be a shield in temptation and a strength for the 
moment’s need. But when we speak of unanswered prayer we usually 
mean an experience when we focus our thoughts on some definite gift 
which we desire of God, and continue to desire, day after day and find 
no response. It is this kind of prayer which involves preparation of 
heart and mind in order that we may be sure that our desire is what we 
really want. 

Perhaps we do not really know ourselves. We may be acting on an 
impulse which controls us at the moment, but after a week of waiting 
we may find that our desires are superficial and that we did not realize 
all that would be involved if God granted them. Many a time we have 
entered a shop and bought something we fancied, and then arriving 


182 





THE SITUATION INVOLVED IN GOD’S SILENCE 183 


home we find that we do not know what to do with it, now that we 
have it. God is wiser with us. He waits to see whether our prayer 
is a passing fancy or one which deepens into a continuous yearning. 

There may be, somewhere in our life, something which produces a 
short circuit in our spiritual connection with God so that we cannot 
draw upon His infinite resources. Our motives may be antagonistic 
to His character and purposes, or we may be in conscious rebellion 
against His laws, and live in known sin. This always cuts our connec- 
tion with God. He may long to bless us, but it is we who make it 
impossible. A sympathetic harmony with the divine purpose for our 
life is necessary. Our desires must be God’s desires, or they cannot be 
fulfilled. 

Another reason for delayed answers to prayer lies in our slowness to 
see beyond the material plane. We are sent here to make full use of 
material things as tools for carving out our spiritual destiny; but we 
were not meant to be enthralled by material things or to consider them 
as an end in themselves. If our desire for them will release new powers 
of spirit, we shall undoubtedly have our desire granted. But God will 
wait until we discern true values. It is always as Jesus said, ‘‘Seek first 
the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things 
shall be added to you.” It takes time to subdue the flesh and control 
our lower desires. Sometimes this purifying takes months and years 
of our life before we recognize the real value of that for which we pray. 

God waits also to discover our dominant desire. Sometimes we 
voice a prayer with our lips, when our hearts are set on something quite 
different! It is the dominant desire that is answered. What is a 
dominant desire? One that possesses our attention, and controls all 
our purposes, and is the objective of all our living. What is the absorb- 
ing interest of our life? Do we fool ourselves with desires for one 
thing, when we are really working for another? It is only a great soul 
who can honestly see himself, and admit the real truth about himself. 
Most of us dare not whisper our real character to ourselves. Until we 
do, we shall never know our dominant desire. It is not what we con- 
sciously put forward, but what we hold back in our inner heart that 
will bring the answer, for weal or woe. 

It sounds so easy to say, “Lift your heart to God in prayer;” but 
the process of lifting ourselves away from our earth-bound thoughts 
up to the heavenly region where God is, takes time. It means a mental 
concentration which grows with the hours, and purifies the mind from 
all lesser longings. Concentration gathers up all our powers of body, 
mind, and spirit into one great focus. It is the most intense and 


184 THE GIFTS OF UNANSWERED PRAYER 


intimate unifying of all our powers; it is real hunger and thirst for 
righteousness; it is the taut bow and steady nerve, which sends the 
arrow to the bull’s eye. “Let him ask in faith nothing wavering. Let 
not a double-minded man, unstable in his ways, think that he shall 
receive anything of the Lord.’”’? Could we be adequate for all this prep- 
aration in an hour? The wonder is that we receive as much as we do. 
We know so little of what it means to meet the conditions which will 
enable us to bring things to pass in the spiritual realm. 


Drop thy still“dews of quietness, 

Till all our strivings cease, 

Take from our souls the strain and stress, ' 
And let our ordered lives confess 

The beauty of thy peace. Whittier 1872. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


My God, my God, why hast Thou’ forsaken me? 
Why art Thou so far from helping me, and fromjthe words of my roaring? 
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou answerest not; 
And in the night season, and am not silent. 
But Thou art holy, 
O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 
Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. 
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: 
They ant out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 
Commit thyself unto the Lord; let Him deliver him: 
Let Him deliver him, seeing he delighteth in him. 
I will declare Thy name unto my brethren: 
In the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee. 
Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; 
All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; 
And stand in awe of him, all ye the seed of Israel. 
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; 
Neither hath he hid his face from him; 
But when he cried unto him, he heard. 
Psa. 22, 1-4, 7, 8, 22-24. 


These words of David contradict the common conception that 
prayer is effective magic in warding off all troubles. The men of prayer 
in the Bible were often in sore straits, and continued to be so even 
after they prayed. “All thy waves and billows are gone over me. Yet 
the Lord will command His loving kindness in the daytime,” said the 
psalmist whose soul was cast down. On another occasion King David 





THE SITUATION INVOLVED IN GOD’S SILENCE 185 


fasted and prayed for his sick son; but the child died. Jesus prayed 
three times for a way of escape from the cross and none came. 

The reality of this experience of David’s is one which our Lord 
shared when He hung on the cross. It was this Psalm which expressed 
His deepest emotion when He too felt God remote from Him. It was 
David’s high honor to frame the words which described the most 
tragic moment of Jesus’ life. David found in prayer something more 
than the answer to a petition; for his confidence in God is not shaken 
even though he feels deserted. There are greater issues involved on our 
prayer than can be met by an immediate answer. If our desire were 
satisfied at once, we would fail to press on into the larger victories of 
faith which take time to bring to pass. We win the goal by faith long 
before we arrive there just as we see the mountain top before we begin 
the climb. All the development of character would count for nothing 
if we arrived at the end without effort. All the prayer and yearning 
in the world will not give a college student his diploma before long 
weeks of study are completed. Unless, in the beginning, he really 
craves an education his prayer will never be answered. 

To the thoughtful soul, prayer would be a hazardous business if we 
always obtained precisely what we ask. When St. Paul exclaimed, 
‘Now I know in part,”’ he expressed the conviction of all the humble- 
minded. Even in the incidental happenings there is more wrapped 
up than we can at once see. Far-reaching consequences come from small 
things like the touch on a button which started the blast which blew 
up the Hellgate rocks. How can we be sure that what we wish to-day 
is really desirable in the light of tomorrow? If we were competent to 
decide what is best for us, then we would have little need for God. 
If a child is as wise as its father what is the need of family life? If we 
grant that we are ever likely to make mistakes in our prayers we can 
easily see that some of our petitions could not be answered if God really 
loves us. We get frightened at some of the circumstances of our life 
and forget that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without our 
Father knowing it and that to Him we are of more value than many 
sparrows. 

As we study the lives of those people in the Bible who prayed, we 
see that their experiences in prayer corresponded with their spiritual 
development. God answered or denied their petitions according to 
the inner development which, in His judgment, they most needed. 
God’s purpose and not their wish was the important thing. Whenever 
their desires and God’s wisdom were one, all the powers on earth could 
not hold back the answer. 


186 


THE GIFTS OF UNANSWERED PRAYER 


O God, the Father of us all, we trust Thy faithful heart. 
Help us to believe in Thy love even when we cannot 
see our way. Thou hast promised to lead the blind by a 
way they know not. Wilt Thou make darkness light 
before us and the crooked places straight, through 
Jesus Christ the true way. Amen. » 


Forty-SECOND WEEK 
THE CHARACTER OF THE PRAYER 


The character of our prayers often prevents their answer. We 
defeat ourselves by a wrong understanding of what our call upon 
God can accomplish. There is a certain region wherein we ourselves 
answer our own prayers, and there is another unlimited region where 
God must codperate with us or our desires cannot be realized. 

Prayer which expects God to be a substitute for our thinking will 
not find a response. God cannot rearrange the universe, to satisfy our 
muddled brains. Many Christians, looking upon prayer as an escape 
from all difficulties, are like the small child who prayed one night, 
“Dear God, please make Boston the Capital of Vermont, ’cause I said it 
was So in my examination paper and I want it to be right.”” Obviously 
God cannot answer such prayers. They place self-protection and 
vanity above truth. They ignore the laws of an orderly, growing, 
unfolding cosmos into which we must fit ourselves if we would 
inherit all things. There is the unescapable region of fact and law, of 
cause and effect, in which we are to work out our salvation. God has 
equipped our spirit with mind and judgment. He gives us the com- 
radeship of other spirits wiser than ourselves, the knowledge of all 
generations in books ready for our use, and the world of nature, — 
His great laboratory in which we are free agents on discovery bent. 
All of this is ours that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of 
God’s power. And in it all we are not necessarily alone, but may have 
the iaspiration of the Holy Spirit to guide us into the whole truth, for 
God is still working in His world as rapidly as He can secure codéperat- 
ing spirits like ourselves through whom to work. 

Sometimes our prayers are too dictatorial to deserve an answer. 
When importunity means the setting up of our own will, insisting that 
the blessings of heaven shall come in the precise form in which we decide 
we want them, we shut off our connection with divine power. Faith 
becomes presumption when demand outgrows petition. Egotism may 
replace codperation and leave us, in the end, still groping for the secret 
power. 

Many prayers go unanswered because they seek too little. They 
crave a small and immediate manifestation of God’s love when delay 
would prepare our faith to rise to greater heights and rejoice in larger 
gifts. When we have to wait, let us examine the character of our 
prayer and take this time to make it effectual. 


187 


188 THE GIFTS OF UNANSWERED PRAYER 


The opposite of this is also true. Many desires which we voice to 
God are so far-reaching that the answers can come only through long 
processes of working and waiting which may involve more than we 
dreamed. Is it not true with most of us that it is our childish insistence 
on having what we want now, without delay, that colors much of our 
doubt regarding prayer. Some day we may be in a realm where achieve- 
ment follows instantly on the heels of desire, but on this material plane 
we may indeed be devoutly grateful if our dominant desires set in 
motion influences which ultimately will work out good for us. 

Again, our prayer may be too insular, too unrelated to others about 
us, and so individual that our good might be another’s harm. Perhaps 
we imagine that we ourselves, and God, are the only factors in the 
situation. Here again delay will help us to realize our narrow horizon. 
How often during the World War we found ourselves unable to pray 
definitely because we sensed in some feeble way that our good would 
be another’s ill, and our social consciousness was too well developed to 
allow us to be selfish in our intercession. 

Many people also do not know the difference between negative and 
positive prayer. Some of us, under the spell of an alluring temptation, 
go to God in all earnestness and ask for delrverance. Then we go out 
and speedily give way to the very temptation against which we prayed. 
The reasons are not far to seek. In all probability the desire for deliver- 
ance was nullified by weak purpose which did not fulfill the human side 
of the answer. Late hours of social dissipation often prevent any reply 
to a prayer for patience the next morning. The spirit may be willing, 
but the flesh has been rendered abnormally weak by our own volition. 

The other reason is a psychological one. We tend toward that upon 
which we fix our attention. If our prayer is merely a recital of all 
the fears and inclinations from which we long to be delivered, we 
naturally strengthen the tendency to do that which we have re-im- 
pressed on our minds. In this case it is the negative prayer. Availing 
prayer for deliverance forgets its temptation in the presence of God, 
and is absorbed with contemplation, and praise, and worship of all the 
love and beauty and purity which is always shed within our hearts by 
the thought of God. From such prayer we go out with minds over- 
charged with an atmosphere of holiness which is a shield against all evil. 

Thou art where’er the proud 
In humbleness melts down; 
Where self itself yields up; 
Where martyrs win their crown; 


Where faithful souls possess 
Themselves in perfect peace. F. T. Palgrave 1867, 


THE CHARACTER OF THE PRAYER 189 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift 
you as wheat: but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not: 
and do thou, when once thou hast turned again, stablish thy brethren. 

Luke 22 : 31, 32. 


And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations — where- 
fore, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a 
thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not 
be exalted overmuch. Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice, 
that it might depart from me. And he hath said unto me, My grace is 
sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most 
gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of 
Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in 
injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake: for 
when I am weak, then am I strong. JJ Cor. 12 : 7-10. 


The making of character is responsible for many unanswered 
prayers. Latent greatness is locked up within every one of us as gold 
is confined within the rock. The refining process of life, watched over 
by God’s love, brings out the eternal qualities. We are concerned 
about that which is confronting us; — an alluring prospect or some- 
thing to shun. We pray according to our desire. We neither get what 
we want nor love what we do not want; we are given a chance to 
triumph over the things of sense and to develop certain powers which 
will bring us gifts far richer than those we desired. 

How the thought of Jesus’ prayer for him must have called out all 
the finest spirit in Simon Peter! Testings of strength, from which there 
was no escape, were coming to him. Jesus did not pray that he might 
escape the experience, but that his faith might be so victorious that 
multitudes would be inspired by his strength. Jesus was always 
reminding us of the others with whom we are connected. Every bit of 
heroism that is minted out of our life is of supreme value to society. 
God’s power working through us is far more sublime than God’s power 
for us. A child who loves music may desire merely to hear his master 
play for him, but if the great musician, by patient teaching, reproduces 
his genius in the child, he has answered the desire in the perfect way. 
Sometimes it takes us a long time to see this larger answer to our 
prayer but when we do, we are thankful that the immediate satisfac- 
tion was denied us. 

We are all sensitive to our own weakness. Like Paul we long to be 
rid of the thorn in our flesh. We pray to be delivered from it. If it 
does not disappear by some special providence, we succumb to it and 
thereafter use it as an apology for inglorious living. It then becomes 
our pet weakness, and our pet excuse. We speak resignedly of the 


190 THE GIFTS OF UNANSWERED PRAYER 


‘nerves” or “liver trouble” or “headaches” which we inherited from 
our forebears, or the “temper,” ‘melancholia,’ or ‘sensitiveness’’ 
etc., which has handicapped us. We say we have prayed for some escape 
from it, but God does not answer our prayer. Read once again this 
experience of Paul. How does he meet his limitations? He “besought 
the Lord thrice;’ an expression of intense earnestness of desire that 
would not close until some relief came. He was so eager to be rid of 
this “thorn” that any deliverance by any means was welcome. This 
spirit of downright determination opened his eyes to see the supreme 
way out; to reduce the power of the enemy by bringing up huge rein- 
forcements of spiritual power. The infinite strength of God must 
garrison his heart. No answer could be more perfect, because it gave 
him immunity not only from ‘this thorn, but from all thorns. 

The safety of a bank does not consist in locking the door against 
depositors who may organize “‘a run” on it, but in having such resources 
in its vaults that it can be indifferent to any ‘‘run.’”’? Toward which 
point is our prayer directed; against the “‘thorn’’or toward the resources? 
Not in passive resignation, but active resolve, is our way of escape. 
Paul’s paradox may be true for us, ‘‘When I am weak, then am I 
strong.” 


I give Thee’ thanks, O Lord God, with my whole heart, 
because, though I walk in the midst of perplexities 
Thou dost guard me; Thou art acquainted with all my 
ways; Thy right hand upholdeth me; Thou wilt per- 
fect that which concerneth me. My trust is in Thee. 
Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen. 


Forty-Toirp WEEK 
THE NECESSITIES OF GOD’S PLANS 


Many of our prayers are so wide in their scope that we, together 
with God, must wait in patience. Many other people may be involved 
with us in the expected blessings. The plan of God is the law of 
growth, “first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear!” 
It takes time to grow, time to educate our spirit, time to open our 
eyes to see new truth; to get rid of prejudices. Most of our petitions 
assume that God will turn people’s hearts quickly and mould their 
wills in perfect obedience to His suggestion at a word. If we will 
look into our own spiritual experience and recall how slow we have 
been to respond to the suggestions of God’s spirit, we shall under- 
stand how patiently God has to work in the hearts of others in order 
that they may do His will. 

In the great plan of God for our life, there may be many gifts 
which He longs to give us, but as yet we are not full-grown in our 
spiritual strength to bear the responsibility of the blessing. Every 
parent knows this truth well. There are many things which we long 
to give our children but cannot until they grow up to an appreciation 
of what such provision means. Even then there must be intelligent 
cooperation between parent and child. A college education is a great 
boon; but many parents cannot give it to their sons because the sons 
do not appreciate it enough to ask for it and to work for it. Many 
other things in life require time for their fulfillment. We adjust our- 
selves to the situation; can we not believe that the same principle 
holds true in our relation to our Heavenly Father? 

Oftentimes we ask for the shell when God intends us to have the 
kernel. Some of the great possessions of life come in the disguise of 
something seemingly irrelevant or insignificant, oftentimes mighty 
treasures are wrapped in insignificant parcels which we ignore. The 
great plans of God are usually seen just behind something that is near 
and accessible. While we are looking to heaven, behold there is the 
key at our hand. We sigh for a career in some unfamiliar life and 
mourn because it is withheld. Within reach of our hand the beginning 
of a career may be; but in our vanity we despise the day of small 
things! Our prayer has been answered, but we fail to recognize it. 
There is a divine providence in the environment, and “peculiar situa- 
tion” in which we are placed. If we could bring to life some dominant 
desire out of the heart of our present situation we would find, as 


191 sitchen 


. on 





192 THE GIFTS OF UNANSWERED PRAYER 


Jacob found, a ladder reaching to heaven and say, “Surely God is 
in this place, and I knew it not.” 

Out of our limitations God will burst in triumphant power, if we 
accept them as the starting point for His miracle working. A blind 
man may have his dominant desire for sight answered through the 
prayer of faith, and live as a witness to the touch of God. Or he may 
be like the blind Milton, enduring physical darkness in order that the 
eyes of his mind might see the spiritual land of Paradise Lost and 
Paradise Regained. The same power of God may deliver a man from 
jail and give him a new chance for growth, or he may find in jail the 
quiet retreat in which to write ‘‘Pilgrim’s Progress,” as did Bunyan. 
With God nothing is impossible; but the closer we come in our rela- 
tionship with divine love the more we shall pray the prayer of Jesus: 
“Tf it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will 
but Thine be done.” It is the purpose of our incarnation which we 
must discover and live out in our years on earth. The divine power 
will be seen not only in uncounted replies to our cries of need, but 
in a life-long process wherein, as the years go by, we shall discern a 
mysterious but personal guidance and one which will humble our 
hearts. 

Of one thing we may be sure. The events of life are not accidental, 
nor the mere coincidences of endless permutations and combinations. 


‘‘There’s a divinity that shapes our ends 
Rough-hew them how we will. 


There are countless gifts which come into the life of every child 
who possesses loving parents. Some of them come in answer to desires 
voiced by a child; but the greater number represent the foresight, and 
care, and tenderness of the parents. ‘If ye then,” says Jesus, “know 
how to give good things to your children how much more will your 
heavenly Father give good things to them that ask Him.” And the 
prophet of olden times discerned this truth when he caught this 
glimpse of God’s heart in the word: “Can a mother forget her child? . . 
Yes, she may, yet will I not forget thee.” 

“Thy ways are love; though they transcend 
Our feeble range of sight 


They wind, through'darkness, to their end 
In everlasting light,” 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


But as the time of the promise drew nigh, which God vouchsafed unto 
Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, till there arose another 


THE NECESSITIES OF GOD’S PLANS 193 


king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. The same dealt subtly with 
our race, and evil entreated our fathers, that they should cast out their 
babes to the end they might not live. At which season Moses was born, 
and was exceeding fair; and he was nourished three months in his father’s 
house: and when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and 
nourished him for her own son.. And Moses was instructed in all the 
wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and works. . . 
There came a voice of the Lord: I am the God of thy fathers, the God of 
Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not 
behold. And the Lord said unto him, Loose the shoes from thy feet: for 
the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. I have surely seen the 
affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, 
and I am come down to deliver them: and now, come, I will send thee into 
Egypt. This man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in 
Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years. 
Acts. 7 : 17-22, 31, 32, 83, 34, 36. 


The victory of the individual and the victory of the race are 
intimately related. This is why many prayers cannot be answered at 
once. It takes time for God’s purposes to unfold. If human beings 
were puppets, God could move us about at will without hindrance; 
but because we are destined for likeness to God, the carrying out of 
the divine plan is immediately affected by our decisions. Ultimately 
no one of us can hinder God; but we have the chance now to work with 
Him and inherit all things. 

The history of Moses illustrates this. The countless prayers of the 
enslaved Hebrews for deliverance from the cruelty of the Egyptians 
apparently were in vain. The mother and father of the baby Moses 
could not avert the fearful necessity of casting out their beloved child 
to the forces of destruction. Then their prayers were partly answered. 
The mother could nurse the baby, but he was to be the son of the 
hated Pharaoh. This could not have been much comfort to the Levite 
parents who, in the priestly line, must have desired their son to be 
guardian of the faith and not to be trained as a pagan. They must 
have wondered at the inscrutable purpose of God. 

But God had a greater gift in store than they had asked in their 
prayers. The training as the son of Pharaoh equipped Moses with the 
education, the wisdom, and the intimate knowledge of court life 
which was to make him the fearless deliverer of all his people. His 
parents asked for his life and God answered by giving them the lives 
of all their people. But it took years to accomplish it. The people 
suffered for more than a generation while their leader was growing 
up and being fitted to work with God for their deliverance. 

There is no haste with God, because there is no time with Him. 


194 THE GIFTS OF UNANSWERED PRAYER 


Moses knew this. He prayed, in that immortal Psalm, ‘A thousand 
years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is passed, and as a 
watch in the night.” (Psa. 90: 4). Centuries after, in the midst of 
suffering, another friend of God, had to find his comfort, even after the 
triumph of the Christ, by writing, “Forget not this one thing, beloved, 
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years 
as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some 
count slackness.”? (J Peter 3 : 8-9). 

In the vividness of the moment, we lose our sense of eternity. We 
say, “I want this now! Why pray, if we have to wait for one thousand 
years?’’ Because the destiny of the future is hidden within our present 
desire. This moment is part of eternity — the only part we have now. 
Bring your desires to God. Many of them will be answered at once; 
some of them will be changed; others will start the unrolling of some 
mighty destiny. If we do not pray, we shall miss our chance for great- 
ness and learn the bitter wisdom of uninspiring existence. 


Our Father, Who seest the end from the beginning and 
hast prepared for us who love Thee blessings beyond 
our understanding, grant us the patience to wait for Thee. 
Deliver us from fretfulness of spirit and anxiety of heart 
and may Thy peace which passes understanding keep 
our heart and thoughts in Christ Jesus. Amen. 


Forty-FourtaH WEEK 
THE REAL GIFTS OF UNANSWERED PRAYER 


We may ask for material gifts and gain spiritual gifts: We may 
ask for certain spiritual gifts and gain others more needed for our 
growth. There are many spiritual gifts which come largely through 
delayed answers. 

Chief among these blessings is the consciousness of a growing 
acquaintance with God. A delayed answer brings us to Him again 
and again until we grow in our capacity for a life of spiritual insight 
and meditation. We form a habit of prayer which is the beginning of 
all blessing, for it brings God intimately near. 

There is also an added power and intensity which we would never 
have except for the discipline of delay. If the river of our desire 
flowed on without interruption we would soon become shallow and 
sluggish. Delay and hindrance build a dam in the river and the 
higher the wall the greater power we gather in flowing over it. The 
power thus stored up for future release can be harnessed to vast proj- 
ects and bless multitudes of people. Thus the delay that comes to 
the waters is in itself the answer of power. The life of nearly every 
great man or woman speaks eloquently of such experiences. 

Another spiritual gift is a steady purpose. Our desires become so 
much a part of our daily life that they become more vivid and pointed 
through the delay in realizing them. Purpose girds up the mind and 
makes it alert for action. We wait so long for the promise of the future 
that we are ready for it without delay when it comes, and we shall 
find that we shall accomplish in a short time what we never could 
have done without the time of waiting. Jesus waited thirty years 
before His career of three years began. 

One of the necessary qualities of heart for any great life is a sacri- 
ficial love; a love which has been purified of self-interest and vanity, 
and self-importance and has lost itself in the purpose of God. The 
purifying fire burns more quickly when the blessing is withheld fora 
time. We search our hearts for hindrances, and reasons for the delay, 
and we fast in our spirits in the intensity of our prayer. Many people 
have been transformed in their character by unanswered prayer. A 
mother waits long years for the return of her boy and in the waiting 
becomes the very personification of forgiving, expectant love. We 
need not go about hunting for discipline in life. Fortunate indeed are 
we who know a heavenly Father who will “lead the blind by a way they 


195 


196 THE GIFTS OF UNANSWERED PRAYER 


know not.’”’ Nothing helps us to understand the heart of Jesus as this 
training in sacrificial love, waiting and yearning for the goal of desire. 

We learn, too, to see the perfect blend of the material and spiritual 
in this world. If prayer were always answered at once, our desires 
would grow to be more material and we would merely seek great 
things for ourselves because of their easy possibility. In waiting for 
our prayers to be answered we learn that “the gift without the giver 
is bare,” that we are all in the world, but not of it. It is the triumph 
of life to live in the spiritual plane while as yet we are still touching the 
material. Realizing this, we walk through life with a more than human 
power. 

The gift of faith also becomes ours. We get the habit of visualizing 
the things we hope for and seeing more clearly the unseen and eternal 
world. We find too that our faith stands the strain, and steadies us 
through days of waiting. We have faith in what we ask because it 
has become a sixth sense, and has been strengthened by long use. 

There is also a gift which we are slow to covet, but which helps us 
to enter into the secret wisdom of God. It is the gift of humility — 
Only the baffling experiences of life call it out. It is the pure gold 
minted out of life through the furnace of disappointment, perplexity, 
and waiting. — It is so subtle in its nature that as soon as we discover 
we have it we lose it: as soon as we can conquer our limitations we are 
likely to kill it. — If then for no other purpose than to teach us humil- 
ity, God should delay the blessing we seek, we should be thrice grateful. 
It is the heart of the little child which finds rest for its soul and enters 
into the kingdom of heaven. 

Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh; 
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear, 
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh; 
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer. 
eorge Croly 1854. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there 
is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory 
of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, 
even as from the Lord the Spirit. EL Cor Sikh, he; 


It is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined 
in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in 
the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, 
that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from 
ourselves; we are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, 
yet not unto despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not 


THE REAL GIFTS OF UNANSWERED PRAYER 197 


destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that 
the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. For our light afflic- 
tion, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly 
an eternal weight of glory: while we look not at the things which are seen, 
but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are 
temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

“if Ef Cor. 22:6, 782) 10017, 18. 

In a Florentine picture gallery an art student sat before one of 
Raphael’s masterpieces trying to copy it. When his work was nearly 
done, he stood back and compared the two. Then with his brush, he 
daubed over the face of his picture and exclaimed tragically! “How 
can I do what Raphael has done without the mind of Raphael!’’ 
Thank God our case is different when we start out to follow the Christ. 
“We have the mind of Christ” (J Cor. 1 : 16) as St. Paul says, because 
the Spirit of God dwells within us. Note what happens as we turn our 
attention toward Him. We are gradually transformed into the same 
image from character to character. This is not an obscure truth, — it 
is a law of life. We grow to be like that which we love; that to which we 
give our devotion. Our face and character become the personification 
of what has absorbed our attention. Consider what this means in the 
realm of prayer. Even our special petitions may be unanswered, there 
are rewards of spirit which in themselves enrich us. No one can come 
to God without being better for it in some way. His transforming 
Spirit works in us. 

One would suppose that a man so devoted to the cause of Christ as 
St. Paul would have been free from afflictions and distresses of mind. 
If the prayers of anyone were answered, his should have been. Why 
then did he keep on in the face of all these experiences recorded in our 
lesson? It was because he looked at everything in the light of the end- 
less life. He knew that every trial could be made to yield a more 
valuable gift just as the grapes put in the press come forth as wine. 
If one asks why wine cannot be made without pressure on the grapes, 
we can only say we do not know. It is a law of life. We do not know 
why we have to be baffled in order to grow any more than the lily 
understands why it had to push its way against the pressure of the 
dark earth up into light. All we know is that if the lily cease to push 
up, it dies. Therefore we, too, stretch up toward God, and pray con- 
tinually, knowing that the reward is sure. 

More and more each day we are becoming aware of mighty forces 
which we cannot see, and scarcely understand, but which we can use. 
Every scientific man knows now that the things which are seen are 
transitory and that the unseen forces are eternal as God Himself. The 


198 THE GIFTS OF UNANSWERED PRAYER 


marvel is that St. Paul saw this long before modern science was 
imagined. How did he get it? By the illumination of the Spirit of 
God in his heart. He knew the laws as they were taught by Jesus, 
and we with our slow moving minds know that those laws are the same 
throughout the universe. Therefore when Jesus said, ‘Ask and ye 
shall receive,’ He will be proved right in the light of human 
experience. 


O God, many are they that say, who will show us any 
good? Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance 
upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more 
than they have when their corn and their new wine are 
increased. In peace will I both lay me down and sleep: for 
Thou Lord, alone makest me to dwell in safety. Amen. 


Psa. 4: 6-8. 


THE REALITY OF SEEMING UNREALITY 


Forty-Firta WEEK 
DISCOVERING A WORLD 


A wise man once said, “at birth man enters the realm of dreams 
only to awaken to reality at death.” Unreality is the common experi- 
ence of us all. We look into the years behind us and everything is a 
hazy dream, — we look forward and the future is full of mystery. 

It is a gigantic task — this struggle for reality. The life of every 
child proves this. It enters the world with a cry, and a mind uncon- 
scious of its surroundings. It has the whole world to discover and to 
make real, and this demands a lifetime. Slowly one discovery after 
another is made. Years pass between the time when a child discovers 
its fists, toes, and its mother’s face until the day when a printed page 
becomes real in its meaning. Many more years pass before history, 
science, language, and philosophy open new worlds of thought to the 
mind. The world is limitless in possibilities for reality; and yet each 
one of us possesses only as much of it as engages our attention. As 
Anatole France once said: 


“The world though vast on every side, 
Is no wider than our thought is wide.” 


We spend years searching for reality in the world of things only to 
find that human spirits and their creative thinking are the only true 
reality. Even a child knows this. Each day a small boy returns from 
school. He opens the door and calls, ‘“Mother, mother!” ‘Here I am, 
what is it?”’ “O nothing, I just wanted you to be here.” Then he runs 
out to play with things, contented with the reality of his mother’s 
presence. 

We are all like that child. The world is real and satisfying in pro- 
portion to the presence of the living spirits who have touched us and 
blended their friendship with ours. It is the spirit which makes all 
things live and is immortal. Things have no value save as they express 
the spirit. Nevertheless we spend our short years trying to satisfy 
ourselves with things and measure human success by the size and the 
number of things we possess. Oue would do well to heed the lessons 
of the past. About five thousand years ago two men lived: One had 


199 


200 THE REALITY OF SEEMING UNREALITY 


vast possessions, the other a mighty spirit. Both died. One was for- 
gotten until the other day, when by chance his body was dug up, 
buried among all his things: the glory of King Tut. The other man 
has an unknown grave, but, since the day he died, he has been a 
living reality in every land where light and truth have been found and 
where law has safeguarded life. And still to-day Moses lives, and 
sways us with his ten commandments because he was a living spirit, to 
whom the spiritual life was the only reality. 

It is the life of the spirit which gives reality to the world. It uses 
material things to express itself. Piano music might be described 
materially as the vibration of steel wires strung over a wooden board, 
but these alone would make noise and not music. It is only when a 
human spirit, filled with creative emotion, controls the sounds, that 
music comes into being. 

The world has never yet yielded its full measure of reality and 
power because it has been an end in itself for most of us. We have not 
used it for the creation of eternal values, and therefore, as the years 
go by, our memories are a meaningless blur. 

The disciples of Jesus overheard Him praying about our relation to 
the world. “As Thou hast sent me into the world even so have I sent 
them into the world. I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of 
the world but that Thou wouldst keep them from the evil that is in 
the world.” Christians have never measured the ‘even so” of this 
prayer. It includes the emphasis on the triumph of the spirit and the 
use of the world as an instrument for the expression of the soul. It has 
been difficult, however, for the followers of Jesus to see the possi- 
bilities of the world from a religious point of view. In the early cen- 
turies they were indifferent to it because of persecutions. When they 
lived in caves and dungeons it was not strange that they should have 
been more concerned with the future life than with the task of living on 
the earth. Even now many religious folk create a small world for them- 
selves and deliberately stress an unsocial emphasis in that part of the 
prayer, ‘‘They are not of this world.” There are others, too, who have 
not yet discovered the possibilities of this present age because their 
spirits are living either in the past or in the future. They are the 
influences and the ideals who are either behind or ahead of the present 
reality. They are our traditionalists and radicals who try to find 
reality in a world which they do not possess. 

The real power is in the hands of those who identify themselves with 
the day in which they live and who accept the commission of their 
Lord when he said, “TI have sent them into the world.” 


DISCOVERING A WORLD 201 


“To serve the present age, 
My calling to fulfil; 
O may it all my powers engage 
To do my Master’s will.” 


All about us are other human spirits. Some of them live so close to us 
that we lose our mental alertness and pass them by like wooden 
soldiers, and forget them. Our attention is absorbed by other things 
and our world shrinks to the range of our concentration. Sometimes 
it is no larger than our aches and pains and personal opinions. It is 
high time to awake and look around and see the vast possibilities for 
growth and service which are all about us in the world we do not 
know. Opportunities pass unheeded. We are like children filling our 
hands full of sand and letting it escape through our fingers. 

How large is your world? Is it a mere heap of things or is it a 
living organism throbbing with the life of human spirits ready to help 
us to find reality? Perchance we are missing the whole meaning of life. 
If so, we do well to pray the prayer of Richard Watson Gilder: 


“Oh, deeper lead 
My soul into the living world of souls 
Where Thou dost move.”’ 


Yea, we know thy love rejoices 

O’er each work of thine; 

Thou didst ears and hands and voices 
For thy praise combine; 

Craftsmen’s art and music’s measure, 
For thy pleasure, 

Didst design. Francis Pott 1861. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in 
love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offer- 
ing and a sacrifice to God for an odour of a sweet smell. But fornication 
and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among 
you, as becometh saints; nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, or jesting 
which are not befitting: but rather giving of thanks. Wherefore he saith, 
Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall 
shine upon thee. Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, 
but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore 
be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, and be 
not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; speak- 
ing one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and 
making melody with your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all 
things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 
‘subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ. 

Eph. & : 1-4, 14-81. 


202 THE REALITY OF SEEMING UNREALITY 


A student once defended her rebellious attitude toward God by 
saying that her very religious father had read long portions from the 
Bible before breakfast until the food was cold and she went shivering 
to school. To be an imitator of God, and to walk in love at the same 
time is not always a simple matter, but it is the only way to make 
spiritual truths real. .... That was the triumph of Jesus. He fed the 
hungry multitude while he taught them. His disciples plucked the 
corn in the fields on the Sabbath day to the scandal of the religious 
leaders. Some one has said that the ideal Christian should be a prac- 
tical mystic: he must have his head in the clouds and his feet on the 
earth. 

Everything we touch in the world may be the means of making 
some spiritual discovery. The outer world must be the counterpart 
of the world within the man. We see what is within him by noticing 
what part of the world claims his attention. A vulgar mind notices 
the vulgar facts in the world. The man with an inner love of beauty 
discovers first the beautiful aspects of life. Filthiness, foolish talking 
and jesting are the realities of an earthly mind. Beauty, reverence, 
and exultant rejoicing are the realities of the spiritual mind. We 
might make significant discoveries about ourselves if we honestly 
listed those things in the world which have been most real to us in 
that we have regarded them and found them pleasurable. 

The short years on earth are none too long for the discovery of 
our real selves. There is some reality in the world to appeal to every 
natural instinct. The difference between the wise and the unwise 
people lies in the kind of opportunities they buy as they walk through 
the days. What are the characteristics, of the world which you have 
discovered? What has made the greatest appeal to you? The answer 
to these questions is a description of yourself. 

The practical mystic is well described by St. Paul in his two counsels, 
“Be filled with the Spirit” and at the same time, ‘Subject yourselves 
one to another.’”’ The two are not incompatible. A commonplace life, 
lived in an uncommon spirit is an ideal which is possible for all, but 
is sought by few. There was nothing unusual or adventurous about the 
simple country life Jesus lived. Birds and flowers and His fellow- 
beings along the road were His world. But the spirit in which He 
tramped the dusty hillsides and talked with beggars and fishermen is 
an endless rebuke to our selfish pinings for thrills and adventures in 
the hope of discovering a different and larger world. It is not where 
we are, but what we are which makes real life. Just around the corner 
from where we are now lies a world waiting for our discovery. The 


DISCOVERING A WORLD 203 


flower on our window-sill enfolds an eternity of meaning if we will 
study it. The heart of our neighbor will require the strategy of a 
general if we enter it. Our community has within it, in miniature, the 
characteristics of a world. If we go through this “giving thanks always 
for all things” we shall be amazed at the joyous reality in our world. 


Our Father God, we thank Thee for the beauty of Thy 

world. We thank Thee for the love which has ministered 

to our joy. Help us to see Thee through the works of 

Thy hands and to worship in Thy holy temple. May 

we set our heart not on the things that are seen but on 

those which are unseen and eternal; through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. 


Forty-SixtH WEEK 
THE TRANSFIGURATION OF LIFE 


In a “Lost and Found” column of a newspaper a woman sought to 
recover an old-fashioned brooch. She offered a large reward and added, 
“Its intrinsic worth is small: I value it for sentimental reasons.” 
There was the simple story of a great truth. A few stones and a bit of 
gold are worth many times their price because some loving human 
spirit has worn them and handed them down, radiant with the memory 
of her presence. In this way love transfigures the commonest posses- 
sions and adds to them deep meaning and joy and the consciousness 
of a spiritual presence. 

” In some such way the presence of Christ lingers over all nature and 
the homely duties of life because he used them to reveal the deepest 
truths about God. To those who love Him the most humdrum life 
may be transfigured: but to those who are indifferent to Him life is 
dull and uninspiring. 

When the disciples of Jesus asked him why he spoke to the multi- 
tudes in parables, he replied: ‘Because seeing they see not, and hear- 
ing they hear not, neither do they understand.”’ We who read those 
matchless stories of nature know how much the crowds missed because 
they were blind and deaf to the teaching of Jesus. 

It is a fearful loss to any life to remain spiritually blind to God’s 
world and to the hidden meanings beneath the surface of things. There 
is always something to be seen that cannot be seen save with the discern- 
ing eye of the spirit. These hidden values, these “‘sentimental reasons” 
are what make life worth living and full of meaning. Barren indeed is 
the experience which has never sensed the presence of God in His 
world. It is like separating the violet from its perfume, and robbing 
nature of all its golden sunlight. 

“Harth’s crammed with heaven, 

And every common bush aflame with God: 

But only he who sees it takes off his shoes, 

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries 

And daub their natural faces 

Unaware, more and more.” 
There it is, —the difference between people. One gets the divine 
vision through the visible expression; the others say, “It’s only a 
blackberry bush. Let us eat.” 

If Moses had not had the eye of his spirit open, in the silences of 


204 


THE TRANSFIGURATION OF LIFE 205 


the plains of Midian, he would have missed the glory of God burning 
in the bush, and never led his people out of captivity into the promised 
land. Literal-minded folk, who see only what can be seen on the surface 
of things, look at the material thing as an end in itself and satisfy 
themselves with things instead of their meaning. 

The great majority of those who followed Jesus walked and talked 
with Him for three years, and at the end misunderstood Him. There 
were only three of His intimate friends who saw His transfiguration 
because their hearts were ready for the vision. The others did not 
know the nature of God even when He was with them. 

We are even more dull in our comprehension to-day. Nature has 
unfolded her secrets and become ethereal in her substance and yet the 
majority of us are blind to all but the material wonder. We try to 
compress the majesty of God into a prescription, or a definition or a 
program when His presence is intimately near in the perfect harmony 
of natural and spiritual laws. If we could realize the truth that, ‘“‘in 
Him we live and move and have our being’’ we would find new con- 
tentment and joy even in the simple things of life. So much of our ill 
health comes because we yearn for abundance of things rather than 
width of horizon. 

Many of us will say, however, “That is not my difficulty. I want 
horizon and freedom of soul, but I am entangled by ‘things’ which 
demand attention and choke the life of my spirit. If I were only free 
from these vexing necessities, I, too, could have spiritual visions and 
exalted contacts.” This is the common problem of all who work at 
tasks in order to live. There would be little hope for the spiritual life 
of most human beings if there were no divine principle to meet their 
pressing facts of daily experience. It shines out luminous in the 
experience of Jesus, and we may learn it from Him. 

One evening, after a long walk with His disciples over dusty roads, 
He came with them to the upper room where they were to have their 
last conversation. Then they were tired and dusty, needing the 
refreshment of cooling water on their travel-stained feet. Perhaps they 
were too poor to hire a servant for this purpose or possibly he was 
detained by the passover crowds; but the menial task wasnot performed. 
The disciples were perhaps grumbling in their discomfort, at the very 
moment when they knew their Lord had important words to say. And 
Jesus, more than all of them, was burdened by the importance of these 
last hours with His disciples. A strange thing happens. Jesus knowing 
that He came from God and was going to God and that God had 
given all things into His hands, a consciousness of power that no 


206 THE REALITY OF SEEMING UNREALITY 


Roman Emperor could have had, “riseth from supper, and layeth 
aside His garments,” and like a slave, “‘He took a towel and girded 
Himself. Then He poureth water into the basin and began to wash 
the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He 
was girded.” Such an anti-climax! The Ruler of all washes dusty 
feet! Afterward He said, “If I then the Lord and the Master have 
washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”’ From that 
time to this every towel has been transfigured, and every simple homely 
duty is radiant with the glow of a divine service. 


“The trivial round, the common task 
Will furnish all we ought to ask; 
Room to deny ourselves, a road 
To bring us daily nearer God.” 


If we follow the example of Jesus, every insignificant thing becomes 
the means of expressing the divine life. The preparation of a meal 
becomes the expression of love, and a sacrament. The washing of a 
child’s hands becomes a holy art. The loaf of bread is the blend of 
God’s creative work in the growing wheat and our creative part in the 
grinding and baking. If we have eyes to see, we may find everything 
in life a parable of God. Anything is endurable if it is transfigured. 
If things cease to be weights and become wings, we may be lifted up 
by them even to-day, into that realm where we shall find power for 
peace and health. 


‘‘When he walked the fields, he drew 
From the flowers and birds, and dew 
Parables of God. 
For within his heart of love, 
All the soul of man did move: 
God had His abode. Stopford A. Brooke 1881. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all 
covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the 
things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, 
The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he reasoned 
within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have not where to 
bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, 
and build greater; and there will I bestow all my corn and my goods. 
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many 
years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry. But God said unto him, 
Thou foolish one, this nent is thy soul required of thee; and the things 
which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? So is he that layeth up 
treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Lwuke 12 : 16-21. 


THE TRANSFIGURATION OF LIFE 207 


How this parable of Jesus goes against what we call sound wisdom! 
The instinct of self-protection is so strong in the average man and 
woman that the wisdom of Jesus does not appeal to us. We all want 
comfortable homes, bank accounts, provision against any rainy day 
that may come. We want to safeguard our children against hard- 
ships — in short we consider it good business to reduce life to a com- 
fortable certainty. We consider anyone foolish who lives from hand to 
mouth. A stable society we say depends largely upon vested interests. 
Has the Master then only a few idealists in mind or is He speaking to 
humanity as a whole? 

Our worldly wisdom is somewhat disturbed when Jesus puts His 
finger on the inner motive which lies at the heart of those who seek 
possessions. It is covetousness. The man who covets is devoted to 
things as his superior pleasure. His love goes out to what he wants. 
The synonym for covetousness is given us by St. Paul when he warns 
the church to beware of ‘‘covetousness which is idolatry.” An idol 
takes the place of God. Therein is the danger. It is almost impossible 
for one to amass possessions and not be absorbed in them. Acquiring 
them takes all one’s attention and caring for them afterward requires 
more attention. Worship of God becomes a luxurious exercise rather 
than the chief interest. A man has higher work to do than to be a mere 
caretaker of things, Jesus taught, particularly when those things do not 
represent his creative work any more than the harvest of a field is the 
work of the farmer. He merely fences off God’s free gifts. 

Sooner or later comes the distracted question. “What shall I do: 
because I have not where to bestow my fruits? ’? Then comes the acid 
test which shows the real motive of the heart. Shall we hoard these 
things and make the small idol into a big idol, or shall we transmute 
them into spiritual values? It is not possible to do both. We may 
collect a pile of wood, but when we begin to transmute it into the 
flaming fire to keep people warm, the wood begins to disappear; yet 
it is of no value to us or others until it begins to burn. Not long ago 
a man was found frozen to death covered only by newspapers. Under 
his pillow lay thousands of dollars. “The man was crazy,” we say. 
No, he was merely chained to his idol. There are thousands of others 
like him. People with frozen hearts, without friends, lonely, suspicious, 
blind devotees of things. There is no light in their eyes because they 
see no heavenly glow of transfiguration shining in the common things 
of life. 

In the picture of the heavenly city the apocalyptic writer sees the 
honor and glory of the nations brought into it. What is it that can 


208 THE REALITY OF SEEMING UNREALITY 


be taken there? Dollar bills, or palaces, or the abundance of things 
which are only things? They are left behind. Only the spiritual values 
of those things can enter. How much glory can we bring with us? 


O God, Thou hast made everything in life sacred 
because of Thy touch. May we, too, transfigure every- 
thing we touch by a self-forgetful love. Amen. 


Forty-SEVENTH WEEK 
THE LAW OF THE HARVEST 


When Jesus taught us to pray, ‘“‘Give us this day our daily bread,” 
He brought us into a close partnership with God for the realization of 
all our desires. The law of the harvest requires us to be co-workers 
with God for the satisfaction of our hunger. When we pray for bread 
we Inow that long before our petition, God began to set the forces of 
creation at work to produce the answer to our prayer. The food is 
there in reality because long before we called, God provided it. 

Nothing makes God more real as a loving Father than the processes 
of nature which work continuously to meet our daily needs. ‘‘Your 
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” is the assurance 
of Jesus. All we need to do is to link our faith and labor to God’s 
unfolding purposes and the harvest will be ours. ‘‘Look at that wonder- 
ful melon!” said a proud western farmer. ‘“That shows what can be 
done when God and man are in partnership in the gardening business. 
It is infinitely better than the original product because I’ve done my 
full part, too.” 

That kind of pride is what God longs to see in us. The silent proc- 
esses of life go on without season, waiting to reveal their strength 
whenever we join our strength to them. The growth will go on whether 
we help or not, but the richness of the harvest depends as much upon 
us as upon God. When we plant a few seeds in the ground the reality 
of the harvest isnot tangible. We see it in faith and hope and patience. 
Days and weeks of change and growth pass by. We help it by the 
preparation of the ground, the cultivation and the reaping. At last 
the grain we planted comes back one hundredfold, and fills our barns, 
and our prayer for our daily bread is answered. 

It is significant, too, how large a number of the social group enter 
into the answer of our prayer. The loaf of bread involves the baker, 
the coal workers, the millers, and the farmers, and the workers in 
transportation; also the labor for the means to buy the food. A large 
group unites its efforts for the blessing of each individual. And God 
back of it all brings life to the seed and increase to the harvest and 
moves upon the hearts of men to work together with him. Stolid 
indeed must be the heart that eats without giving thanks for, the 
food which is life to the blood. 


“Back of the loaf is the snowy flour, 
Back of the flour is the mill, 
Back of the mill is the earth and the shower 
And the sun and the Father’s will.’”’ Maltbie D. Babcock. 


209 


210 THE REALITY OF SEEMING UNREALITY 


There are spiritual laws which are illustrated in the laws of the 
harvest. We may rest upon them in full confidence. One of them 
shows the rational application of faith. No one can raise a crop with- 
out it. We plant in a faith which is ‘‘a conviction of things not seen.” 
We know it is reasonable because God has always been faithful in the 
past and we know He has never failed. The real question is whether 
we have enough faith to back up our expectations with our coépera- 
tion. 

The earth brings forth fruit after its kind. Figs do not grow from 
thistles, nor can one pluck violets from burdocks. As we sow, we reap. 
The increase of to-morrow is more of what grows to-day. There is a 
persistent growth which goes on whether we wake or sleep. Weeds and 
wheat both show vitality. They increase or decrease in response to 
our desires and efforts. The counsel of the old writing books is as true 
as the harvest. 


‘Sow a thought and we reap an act, 
Sow an act and we reap a habit, 
Sow a habit and we reap a character, 
Sow a character and we reap a destiny.’’, 


It is equally true that we cannot hasten the processes of life. 
The corn does not come before the blade and the ear have developed. 
Every step in the heavenly growth is necessary. Many times we long 
to reap the harvest before God’s time has come. It is useless to resent 
the slow process of growth. All the faith in the world will not do away 
with the necessity for patience. There is a precise moment when faith, 
effort, and growth arrive at full realization. When that time comes 
we shall find, as every farmer does, that a harvest is a responsibility 
and the long months of working and waiting have been a preparation 
for larger service. 

When we grow tense with anxiety waiting for some cherished plan 
to come to fruition, we do well to remember the quiet persistence with 
which nature pushes on to full growth. Day and night, while we 
watch or sleep, the silent processes of life go steadily on to fulfilment. 
Our attention is caught by the noise and bustle of activity. Quietness 
in our world is mistaken for stupidity and inertia. We want to be 
reminded that things are moving and changing. Our gauge is publicity 
and efficiency which is apparent to the crowd. In our own life we 
measure our growth by our stirring experiences and emotions, and we 
are discouraged if there are few of them. All the while the law of God in 
nature rebukes us by surprising us with a harvest beyond all our hopes. 


THE LAW OF THE HARVEST 211 


What peace would be ours, and what relaxation of nervous tension, if 
we learned from nature, as did Matthew Arnold, the lesson: 


“Of toil unswerved from tranquillity! 
Of labour, that in lasting fruit outgrows 
Far noisier schemes, accomplished in repose, 
Too great for haste, too high for rivalry!” 


It is no wonder that Jesus told us to enter our inner room and shut the 
door and in the perfect silence of eternity to let the love and power of 
God play upon our spirit until it begins to grow and expand with a 
power that can bring to pass all of God’s purpose for us. 


Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, 

God of glory, Lord of love. 

Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, 

Hail Thee as the sun above. 

Melt the clouds of sin, and sadness; 

Drive the dark of doubt away; 

Giver of immortal gladness, 

Fill us with the light of day! Henry Van Dyke 1908. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed 
upon the earth: and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed 
should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how. The earth beareth 
fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. 
But ‘when the fruit is ripe, straightway he putteth forth the sickle, because 
the harvest iscome. Mark 4: 26-29. 


I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch 
in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every branch that 
beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit. Already ye 
are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide 
in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it 
abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, 
ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same 
beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing. John 15 : 1-6. 


The most helpless man in the world is the farmer. He plants the 
seed in prepared ground, and then waits for God to send sun and 
showers and growth to the seed. The farmer cannot make the seed 
grow. He can give it room and keep the weeds from choking it, but he 
cannot add one cell to the life of the grain. “The earth beareth fruit 
of herself.”” Jesus used this parable to show people how growth comes. 
If growth is a spontaneous and inexplicable process entirely beyond 
our control, why be anxious? The Heavenly Father has planted us 
here. It is His responsibility to see that we grow. It is useless to tell 


212 THE REALITY OF SEEMING UNREALITY 


our children to grow; they cannot do it. The law of the harvest is a 
law of divine mystery. The grain must wait for God to work. The 
farmer can no more make anything grow than he can make the stars 
to shine or the wind to stop blowing. 

We can encourage or hinder growth by the way we fit in with the 
process of nature in keeping the ground soft and bringing other natural 
elements near, through fertilization, which the plant can utilize for its 
silent creative work. When the fruit comes, we can gather it and use 
it, but the glory of it is not ours. The harvest is the work of God. 
The same principle is true in our spiritual life. All we can do is to 
surround ourselves with the light of God’s truth and faith in His power 
to complete our transformation. Paul, from the depths of a Roman 
prison, is quietly confident, ‘‘that He who began a good work in you 
will perfect it,” (Phil. 1 : 6). This is why it is short-sighted to seek to 
evade any of the experiences which come to us unsought. Who knows 
but that the very elements which we need most for our growth come 
to us in some unattractive disguise. 

The illustration which Jesus used for the growth of the Christian 
was the ancient symbol of the grape vine which the prophets of old 
had used to describe the mission of the Hebrews. Nothing could be 
more perfect as an example of the life which finds itself by losing 
itself. The vine lives only for the fruit. Each year the branches are 
cut back in order to give strength to the grapes. It has no command- 
ing presence; its power is in its service to man. 

“T am the True Vine’’; saith our Lord, ‘‘and Ye 

My Brethren are the Branches,” and that Vine, 

Then first uplifted in its place, and hung 

With its first purple grapes, since then has grown, 

Until its green leaves gladden half the world, 

And from its countless clusters, rivers flow 

For healing of the nations, and its boughs 

Innumerable stretch through all the earth, 

Ever increasing, ever each entwined 

With each, all living from the Central Heart. 

And you and I, my brethren, live and grow, 

Branches of that immortal human Stem. ’ 

Eleanor Hamilton King. 

Our Father, may our life be centered in Thee as the 
branch is centered in the vine. Forgive us that we have 
ever thought we could come to fruition apart from 
Thee. Take from us all that saps our strength. May 
no faculty of mind or heart wither and die from inan- 
ition; may Thy word dwell in our heart to enrich all 
our service. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 


Forty-Eicata WEEK 
THE PERSONAL ELEMENT IN EVERYDAY LIFE 


An American boy returned home from the Great War after seven- 
teen months in France. In talking with a friend he said, ‘‘Do you 
know what kept me going straight over there? It was Dad. When we 
parted he was too deeply moved to speak, but he put his hand on my 
shoulder. It was strange, but during all those fearful months I could 
feel the pressure of his hand and it held me true.” 

A thousand times people have touched our shoulders, or shaken 
our hand and we never remembered anything but the fatigue of the 
crowd. Then again, someone — in a moment of need, grasps our hand 
and we go many days in the strength of that human touch. It was the 
human spirit reaching to us in that touch, just as the heart of the 
father enfolded his boy that day. It is the only thing in life that 
really holds us, — contact with someone’s loving spirit. 

Life is full of human pressure. We spend most of our time in the 
crowded walks of school, business, and social life. We are weary with 
the clamor of the crowds and the conflict of human opinion, and we 
wonder how much of what we do is really worth while. Our peace and 
health and power are affected by the pressure of living and most of us 
follow the crowd and do what the others do merely because it is the 
line of least resistance. Is there any rule by which life will put strength 
into us, instead of taking it out of us? 

The answer is a simple one. Let the outreach of our spirit be the 
measure of our service. Our capacity for vital relationship with others 
varies. Some have more capacity for this than others. It varies also 
with our experience and strength. There are days when we can enter 
easily into the joys and sorrows and perplexities of others. Those are 
days when we have breathed in a larger measure of the life-giving 
power of God and have been lifted above our own fears and anxieties. 
We have a margin of strength for the service of others. At other times 
when we are weary from our own moral fight, we need to shun the 
crowd and to be touched ourselves by the victorious spirit of some 
friend, or better still take an hour off for prayer and the renewal of 
our strength. 

Jesus was never too hungry or too weary to touch the spirit of 
those who were with Him. He was always ready with strength and 
help. One day in the midst of a crowd a sick woman drew near and 
touched His garment in expectant faith, and she was healed. Jesus 


213 


214 THE REALITY OF SEEMING UNREALITY 


knew at once that a wistful spirit had touched Him, and He asked, 
“Who touched me?” and the answer came. ‘The multitudes press 
thee and crush thee.” But Jesus said, ‘someone did touch me for I 
perceived that power had gone forth from me.” (Luke 8 : 46). 

It is always so. The contact of spirit with spirit draws on our 
power. It is life given to life. It costs something. There is nothing 
mechanical or professional in such service. We cannot deal with 
human spirits in the right way unless our life energy goes into our 
effort. This is one reason why, with all our highly-organized science, 
we accomplish so little with people. We cannot treat people imperson- 
ally and get personal response. People wait for the touch of the 
human spirit. No organization, however efficient, can take the place 
of the vital human contact which brings life to the spirit. 

Some of us who are enamored of world issues and mighty move- 
ments which concern the destiny of thousands would do well to ask 
whether our supply of spirit warrants our desire to minister to multi- 
tudes. How much power is there available for the last man in the 
crowd? Service for large social groups will either widen the reach of 
our love or take away from us all that we have and leave us lifeless 
automatons. Mrs. Browning discerned this long ago when she wrote: 

““A red-haired child 
Sick in a fever, if you touch him once, 
Though but so little as with a finger-tip, 
Will set you weeping; but a million sick. ... 
You could as soon weep for the rule of three 
Or compound fractions. Therefore, this same world 


Uncomprehended by you, must remain 
Uninfluenced by you.’ 


God never redeems people’s lives in the mass. He is adequate for 
the feeblest of His children and He enters into our individual needs as 
though we were the only recipients of His love. But the human spirit 
grows impatient with the slow process of one by one. We long to be 
omnipotent also, and we attempt it with the multitude only to find that 
we have failed in the one thing needful. 

The other day a student went to a great library for help. The 
librarian took him out among the thousands of books and led him to 
the two or three of that number which could answer his questions. 
His omniscience extended to each volume and each had a special 
value for him. His success as a Librarian was conditioned by his 
appreciation of the books and their individual value. There is a 
limit to our influence and power. It is the length of the radius of our 
human interest in those about us. It is our loss if we restrict it by selfish 


THE PERSONAL ELEMENT IN EVERYDAY LIFE 215 


interests and self-centeredness, or by deliberately shutting ourselves 
away from the world and its needs. 


“No one could tell me where my soul might be, 
I sought for God, but God eluded me — 
I sought my brother out, and found all three.” 


In the light of all that is expected of us in this day and generation, 
the daily habit of prayer and intimate relationship with God is our 
most immediate responsibility, and personal service to humanity is 
our special privilege. We dare not neglect this, lest we lose our soul 
and shut God out of our life. The need of our brother is the divine 
call to us. Who of us can hope for peace, health or power if we fail 
to respond to the call of God? 


“How silently, how silently, 
The wondrous gift is given; 
So God imparts to human hearts, 
The blessings of His heaven. 
No ear may hear His coming, 
But in this world of sin, 
When meek souls will receive Him still, 
The dear Christ enters in.” Phillips Brooks 1868. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


And Jesus called unto him his disciples, and said, I have compassion 
on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and 
have nothing to eat: and I would not send them away fasting, lest haply 
they faint in the way. And the disciples say unto him, Whence should 
we have so many loaves in a desert place, as to fill so great a multitude? 
And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, 
Seven, and a few small fishes. And he commanded the multitude to sit 
down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves and the fishes; and he 
gave thanks and brake, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the 
multitudes. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up that 
which remained over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full. And they 
that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. And 
he sent away the multitudes, and entered into the boat, and came into 
the borders of Magdala. Matt. 15 : 82-389. 


This story is so characteristic of the Spirit of Jesus. The more 
one studies His life the more one is amazed at the way in which details 
of daily life and the consciousness of a stupendous task alike merit 
the personal attention of the Master. A hungry soul and a hungry 
body are both important to Him. What a contrast to our sense of 
values! If we have a great work to do we seek to free ourselves from 
what we call personal annoyances lest our meditation be disturbed. 
This is probably the reason why so much of the truth we teach has no 


216 THE REALITY OF SEEMING UNREALITY 


meaning for common folk and is counted vague and theoretical by 
them because they perceive that we have little knowledge of the usual 
run of daily experiences. 

Mere theory could not have held a multitude for three days in the 
desert. The questions of a lifetime were being answered. We are not 
told that they clamored for food; they were absorbed in the teaching 
of One who made them aware of their souls as never before. Notice 
the contrast between the attitude of Jesus and his friends. They feel 
no responsibility for two reasons: they had not asked the crowds to 
come, — they came on their own initiative; and furthermore, there 
was no adequate supply of bread, nor money with which to buy it. 
Jesus takes the attitude that facts are always to be reckoned with, and 
that the need of people is a legitimate claim on anything that we possess. 

Situations like this bring us to the realm of the impossible, — the 
point where the power of God meets the extreme limit of man’s ability. 
Most of us never get one peep into this realm because we hide away 
some of our resources. No one is ready to risk everything for a cause 
which is near to the heart of God. Therefore nothing wonderfu! 
happens, and we do our little bit sadly regretful that we couldn’t do 
more — with safety to ourselves. 

God is not moved by quantity, but by spirit. Many who read this 
may discount the miracle because they have never helped to create an 
atmosphere in which their little life could minister to thousands. It 
had to be experienced to be believed. A little child, sitting in a meeting 
where people were piously wishing they could find the means to help 
the destitute in their city, ran up to the chairman with a precious 
nickel saying ,‘‘Here’s all my money for them.” The ringing sincerity 
of the childish voice pierced the selfishness of the grown-ups until there 
was enough and to spare, and the seemingly impossible came to pass. 


Yield thy poor best 2nd nurse not how or why, 
Lest one day, seeing ail about thee spread 
A mighty crowd, and marvellously fed, 
Thy heart break out into a bitter cry, 
“T might have furnished, I, yea, even I 
The two small fishes and the barley bread.’ 
PF, Langbridge, Restful Thoughts for Dusty Days. 


O God, Thou dost care for the hungry sparrow, and the 
hungry man. Feed us with the bread of life. Help us to 
be tender toward all Thy children who faint by the way. 
Help us to share our abundance with them. Make us 
to be great in humble tasks and humble in great tasks; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 


THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES 


Forty-NIntH WEEK 
OUR SECRETS OF VICTORY 


In his “Principles of Biology,’’ Herbert Spencer calls attention to 
this truth: “Whatever amount of power an organism expends in any 
shape is the correlate or equivalent of a power that was taken into 
it from without.” In other words, our energy must first come from 
without before we can see it as personal power. 

We know this is true in the physical life; food, oxygen, our envi- 
ronment in nature sustains the life of the body. The life of the mind too 
is sustained by association with other minds. Solitary confinement 
has often caused men to lose their minds. They were shut off from 
mental oxygen. What is the source of spiritual power? God. ‘The 
Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psa. 
27:1). We cannot generate spiritual power within ourselves. God 
is as necessary to our soul as the air is to our body. Before we can 
begin to give power we must take it in from without, from the environ- 
ing presence of God. 

The chief reason why we are weak in the life of our spirit is because 
we separate it from its natural environment. To demonstrate power 
we must take in power. This is such a simple fact that one would think 
it need not be emphasized; but somehow our failures do not seem to 
teach us because we forget that the faculty of faith and the resources 
of power are not identical. 

Spiritual power can be used to influence the lives of other people 
through prayer for them. We are only beginning to see the scientific 
reasons why this is so. We know that mind influences mind, and even 
at a distance can make suggestions to other minds. Just how this is 
done we do not know. The power of friendship consists, to a great 
degree, in mutual and constant interchange of mental influence. We 
are influenced by love which is directed toward us by our friends if we 
are tuned to receive it. We feel also the positive enmity of an 
unfriendly spirit, but it cannot really touch us unless it finds a like 
spirit in us. There are natural human powers which we have known 
by instinct and occasionally experience without understanding the 


217 


218 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES 


laws by which they are determined. If this power of influence is true 
when we exert it consciously, how much more powerful must this same 
influence be when it is reinforced by the strength of God and directed 
unselfishly toward our friends. There are countless people whom we 
could help to sustain if we used our power of prayer for them. Many 
are unresponsive to God, but are responsive to us. If He is to win them 
He must use us as a distributing centre of power. Such unselfish 
service is the highest mark of friendship. 

This is the reason why we call unselfish friendship eternal. It does 
not depend upon physical presence. Time and space are already 
being eliminated by wireless communication. Perhaps in its light we 
may understand better its spiritual counterpart between soul and soul. 
When that time comes, we shall see what we have missed in not taking 
the counsel of Jesus about the power of prayer. 

There are no limits to the power of unselfishness. The little spring 
which bubbles up in the remote wood gives its waters freely to the 
brook, thence to the river and the ocean. When we give in unselfish- 
ness we may find ourselves encircling the world. All the social service, 
all the international friendships have come from the giving spirit. 
This old world needs nothing more than it needs the power of friend- 
ship given freely, without stint, as the spring empties itself continually 
into the brook. It is only when friendship becomes a habit, that we 
begin to sense its power. How much of this power have we? It is the 
supreme way of being God-like. 

Ideals are also resources which our day and generation need. We 
do not need to wait for a common consent before we stand for them. 
If they are what people need we should take our courage in hand and 
be willing if necessary to die for them. Somebody’s life-blood has to 
go into every advance. At present much of our vitality is used up in 
maintaining our own equilibrium. Our personal interests, our health, 
and our happiness absorb us and we have little to give to the world. 
If we should forget ourselves in the need of others, we might find new 
power for our own weakness. 

Jesus seems to be teaching us once more the first lessons he taught. 
He touched people’s bodies that they might find it easy to have faith 
in God. The closer the physicist, the chemist, and psychologist get 
to that realm of the unseen, the nearer ought the follower of Jesus to 
draw to them. A motor car in the hand of a child is a menace to him- 
self and to the community, and the power to handle the unseen forces 
of nature without a corresponding growth in spirit is a menace to the 
human family. The scientific mind is recording new discoveries each 


OUR SECRETS OF VICTORY 219 


day. How many discoveries of God do we make? We must keep pace 
in our experience lest humanity becomes drunk with power instead 
of being filled with God’s Spirit. 

Science and religion are looking at the same things from opposite 
points of view. Religion, in faith gives “substance to things hoped 
for,” while science is finding “evidence of things not seen.” Our day 
and generation need both seience and religion to walk hand in hand. 
We need both for accurate thinking; and we need both for the health 
of our body. Faith in God’s power and trust in the scientific knowl- 
edge of physical laws will bring in a new era of power for our day. We 
have been like birds flying only with one wing. It is not strange that 
we have fluttered in helplessness. What may we not do for the world 
when man and God are united in creative work? 

We would be one in hatred of all wrong, 
One in our love of all things sweet and fair, 
One with the joy that breaketh into song, 
One with the grief that trembleth into prayer, - 
One in the power that makes the children free, 
To follow truth, and thus to follow Thee. 
J. W. Chadwick 1864. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 

Then came to him the mother of the sons of Zebedee with her sons, 
worshipping him, and asking a certain thing of him. And he said unto 
her, What wouldest thou? She saith unto him, Command that these my 
two sons may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand, in 
thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. 
Are ye able to drink the cup that I am about to drink? They say unto 
him, We are able. He saith unto them, My cup indeed ye shall drink: 
but to sit on my right hand, and on my left hand, is not mine to give, but 
it is for them for whom it hath been prepared of my father. And when the 
ten heard it, they were moved with indignation concerning the two brethren. 
But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the rulers of the 
Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over 
them. Not so shall it be among you: but whosoever would become great 
among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among 
you shall be your servant: even as the Son of man caffe not to be min- 
istered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. 

Matt. 20 : 20-28. 

There is special significance in the first word of this story. Jesus had 
been telling His disciples privately about the way His enemies would 
shortly condemn Him and put Him to death; all this was to happen 
at the end of their journey. ‘‘Then,” at such a tragic moment, two 
of the three men who were closest to Him came with their mother to 
ask that a selfish ambition should be granted. One of these men was 


John, the one on whom Jesus depended for intimate understanding. 


220 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES 


It seems incredible that this could have been the same man to whom 
the fourth Gospel is attributed. They were thinking of themselves 
so much that they easily forgot the suffering heart of their Master, or 
perhaps, as has been suggested, they did not listen because they were 
busy plotting their future. 

In the account by Mark, there is a significant sentence, ‘Master, 
we would that Thou shouldst do for us whatsoever we shall ask of 
Thee.” In other words they looked upon Jesus as a means of getting 
anything they wanted. How familiar that suggestion sounds! Some- 
where in the back of our minds we too have pet schemes, and some 
cherished ambition which we want God to further. We come to Him 
as these men came, so full of our own plans that we are blind to the 
great purposes and interests which concern the heart of God. 

The answer of Jesus searches the hidden motive. Are you willing 
to pay the price for this great gift that you ask? Even God Himself 
cannot give the highest gifts to those who are not fitted to receive 
them. Everything that is worth-while costs a proportionate sacrifice. 
Are we able to meet the extreme test, and to qualify for power? There 
is a cup which must be drunk. It seems as though this needed 
to be shouted aloud to-day when we scramble in such keen competition 
for personal ambitions. We see this trait in others, but fail to see it in 
ourselves. The very disciples who were angry at the attempt of 
James and John to take the highest seats in the Kingdom had them- 
selves been quarreling along the way about who was to be the greatest. 

There is only one way to power; and that is through service. “He 
who loses his life shall find it,” said Jesus. The greatest one is the 
servant of all. It is a fair test. Hveryone can serve from the least to 
the greatest. Even he who gives a cup of cold water to a thirsty soul 
shall not lose his reward. After the death of our late President, one 
editorial said, “the honor of being President is merely a four-year 
opportunity to work harder than any other man in the land.” That is 
true of every one who has come out first in any walk of life. Let us 
look at the dominant desires of our heart. Why do we want health, or 
privilege, or position? What is the motive as God sees it. Is it service 
or selfishness? Do we know what we ask? 

O God, help us to forget ourselves. May we learn the 
lesson of service and follow in the steps of our Master. 
As He gave Himself for others, let us also serve them in 
lowliness of mind, each esteeming others better than 
himself. Grant us a love that seeketh not its own, that 


we may grow up into likeness unto Thee; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 


Firtieta WEEK 
OUR DAY AND GENERATION 


It is difficult for us to look ahead one hundred years and realize 
that the world will be as different then, from what it is now, as our day 
is different from that of one hundred years ago. Our special genera- 
tion seems to us to be the only one that has ever really lived. When we 
think of those days with their despotic beings, slavery, and snail-pace 
transportation, we find it easy to believe in a progressive development. 
We are the last now in the long upward struggle of the centuries; the 
spire on the top of the building. It has taken endless work, endless 
aspiration to bring us to our present height. 

Hach generation has its glory and ours had a special glory; one 
which comes from certain common achievements. Let us look at our 
special environment and the opportunity each one of us had because 
of it. 

First, let us consider the access every human being has to all the 
thoughts and deeds of the world, thousands of books, newspapers, 
schools, and last but not least, the education by pictures and radio so 
that even the most remote people in Greenland or the Sahara may be 
brought near to the heart of things. Time has ceased to delay. The 
miracle of this world panorama, in all its changing moods, is wrought 
for us day by day. We are omniscient as no other generation has 
been. 

The world has become incredibly small so that human strain is at 
its greatest. We have to live, one with another ina different way. 
Only a few years ago if people came too close, we organized enemies 
and drove them away. Now we cannot. If we set fire to our neigh- 
bor’s house we endanger our own. Cleverness has replaced force. We 
have to rely on mind rather than brawn, to hold our own. 

The individual is far more important to-day. He is not tied down. 
His personality has a chance for self-expression. Even womanhood 
has become free to think and act as she chooses. The opinions of the 
people overturn governments and defy laws.. The individual more 
and more controls the state, therefore his moral responsibility is greatly 
increased. . 

Our day is the day of leadership. This quality develops only where 
conditions are plastic and not crystallized. The whole world is plastic, 
and sensitive to the power of an idea. Even one mind may sweep it with 
the strength of his conviction. There was never before such a restless 


221 


222 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES 


seeking for new ideas and new power for leadership. The soul of man 
is beginning to assert itself. , 

The veil between the material and immaterial world was never so 
tenuous. We are becoming omnipotent. Powers of the air are doing our 
bidding. This little, feeble body of ours with its pains and aches con- 
tains a spirit which has already endless possibilities of power. It can 
project its influence around the globe at will and is only turning the 
first pages of the book of omnipotence. 

We are proving the unity of the whole universe as no other generation 
has proved it. We know that the powers of that marvellous personality, 
Jesus Christ, are powers we are destined to have if we fulfil the con- 
ditions. We are learning how to make the physical obey the spiritual. 
In other days that power seemed miraculous; now we have glimmerings 
of a principle which is God’s continuous purpose for humanity. 

These are only a few of the stupendous possibilities of our day, — 
this day in which every reader of this page lives. There is one point 
on which the whole situation rests. It is contained in that fearful 
power of choice which each of us has. The great question is whether 
we are awake to the consequences of our decisions. The forces of life 
and the forces of death struggle in us all for the mastery. If the insight 
of the soul is denied by the desires of selfish greed, all that we have 
inherited from the centuries will be lost. No. other generation has 
been able to snuff out its future as we are able to do, because no other 
day has had such universal powers. This is well illustrated by the 
words of Winston Churchill, whose authority is unquestioned in the 
light of his services as Minister of Munitions and as Secretary of State 
for War in Great Britain during the World War. He draws a vivid 
picture. He asks, ‘‘shall we commit suicide? Reciprocal extermination 
was impossible in the Stone Age. With the best will in the world to 
destroy his species, each man was restricted to a very limited area of 
activity. Meanwhile one had to live and hunt and sleep. So on the 
balance, the life forces kept a steady lead over the forces of death, and 
gradually tribes, villages, and governments were evolved.’ From this 
he turns to our powers now when we choose to take into our hands the 
forces of death. “It is probable — nay, certain — that among the 
means which will next time be at their (the nations’) disposal will be 
agencies and processes of destruction wholesale, unlimited, and per- 
haps, once launched, uncontrollable. Mankind has never been in this 
position before. Without having improved appreciably in virtue or enjoy- 
ing wiser guidance, it has got into ris hands for the first tume the tools by 
which tt can unfailingly accomplish its own extermination. That is the 


OUR DAY AND GENERATION 223 


point in human destinies to which all the glories and toils of men have 
at last led them. They would do well to pause and ponder upon their 
new responsibilities.” We feel like crying out as Byron did about 


man: 
“He will perish 
And yet he must not.” 


We may not sit down in helplessness and say, ‘who can resist the 
trend toward destruction?’’ There is One who gave His life on the 
Cross in order that we might overcome the forces of death and push 
through into immortal life. The decision is ours. Perhaps the final 
chance to choose may pass within our lifetime. There are wise men 
who think so. The responsibility is an individual ene. May God give 
us the strength to enter the gate that leads to life. 


To Thee our full humanity, 

Its joys and pains belong; 

The wrong of man to man on Thee 

Inflicts a deeper wrong. 

Who hates hates Thee; who loves, becomes 
Therein to Thee allied; 

All sweet accords of hearts and homes 

In Thee are multiplied. J. G. Whittier 1856. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder, who 
planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it and digged a winepress in 
it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another 
country. And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants 
to the husbandmen, to receive his fruits. And the husbandmen took his 
servants, and beat one and killed another, and stoned another. Again, 
he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them in like 
manner. But afterward he sent unto them his son, saying, They will 
reverence my son. But the husbandmen when they saw the son, said 
among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and take his 
inheritance. And they took him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard 
and killed him. When therefore the Lord of the vineyeard shall come, 
what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him,*He will 
miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard 
unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons. 
Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone 
which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner: 
This was from the Lord, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say 
I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall 
be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Matt. 21 : 33-43. 


In this story of the rebellious vine dressers Jesus describes the 
spirit which put Him to death. It was embodied in the chief priests 


224 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES 


and religious leaders of that time, but is as true to-day of all those who 
revolt against God’s authority. There is a close parallel between then 
and now which will repay study. 

The owner had a complete vineyard. Everything that would insure 
fruitfulness and success was done; a hedge to keep out wandering ani- 
mals, a wine press to preserve the juice of the fruit and a tower to keep 
off the enemy. It was to be held in trust by the men who worked it and 
the owner went away, giving them perfect freedom, and depending 
on their faithfulness. Such a well protected bit of land undoubtedly 
yielded a large vintage. The men who worked it became prosperous. 
The love of riches grew in their hearts, so that they determined to have 
all the fruits for themselves even though they had to kill the servants 
of the owner, and even his son, the heir of the property. 

This is a picture in miniature of the world to-day.— God has 
entrusted us with His world in which there is every possibility for 
success, for growth, and for codperation with Him. It is not our 
world, but for some marvellous purpose we have been allowed to come 
here, to live in it and work in it and to carry out the divine purpose. 
A day is coming in which each of us must give an account of our 
privileges. At the present time, our generation has its day. We are 
responsible for the world. Soon our chance will be gone and others will 
be put in trust. 

Some of us live as if we had a permanent right to everything. We 
even try to fix things so that our control in the world will outlast our 
lifetime. God has sent His messengers as He sent the prophets of old 
to turn the hearts of the people toward righteousness. Some listened; 
others rebelled. Then came the highest revelation of God to men and 
they killed Him. What shall our generation do with the Prince of Peace? 
Shall we acknowledge His right to reign in God’s world or shall we kill 
Him again by our lust for power and wealth? Do we insist that we 
shall have preéminence even though we have to exterminate all other 
living spirits in order to get our way? What are the great national 
concerns to-day? Are they for service and education and the appre- 
ciation of the gifts of others? Or are we bent on greed and hatred? 
The individual has more power of initiative to-day than ever before. 
How are we using it? Are we some of those who throw stones at the 
Prince of Peace? There are two ways open before us: we may stand 
with all our strength for Him, even though it hurts, or we may yield 
to the spirit of rebellion against the kingdom of God and be utterly 
destroyed. 


OUR DAY AND GENERATION 


O God, save us from ourselves! Save us from the spirit 
of disobedience. We have sinned, and forgotten Thee 
days without number. We have been slothful in Thy 
service and selfish in our desires. O God make clean 
our hearts within us: and take not Thy Holy Spirit 
from us. Put within us the daily remembrance of Thee, 
that we may be faithful unto death —for,Thy Name’s 
sake. Amen. ° 


225 


Firry-Frrst WEEK 
OUR ONE WAY OF ESCAPE 


All the progress that has ever been made has been bought by 
struggle and work. Muscles have been made strong by the discipline 
of exercise, learning has meant burning the midnight oil, and manners 
and morals have come through continuous restraints and conflict with 
the desires of the lower nature. In order to hold the fort, no furlough 
from fighting has been possible. Browning’s experience is true of 


all of us. 
“And so I live, you see, 
Go through the world, try, prove, reject, 
Prefer, still struggling to effect 
Thy warfare; happy that I can 
Be crossed and thwarted as a man, 
Not left in God’s contempt apart, 
With ghastly smooth life, dead at heart, 
Fame in Earth’s paddock as her prize. 


Thank God, no ‘paradise stands barred 
To entry, and I find it hard 
To be a Christian, as I said.” 


Is life worth the struggle? What is it that keeps anyone climbing? 
Why do we have to go against the law of moral gravitation? There are 
two reasons for this; one is found in the unconscious urge of life which 
compels us to grow as it compels the lily to grow from the bulb. That 
accounts for some of the upward struggle. But there is a greater urge 
which we find it difficult to resist; the urge of the Christ. We may 
not admit it, or we may not be loyal to Him, but one thing is certain; 
since He came into the world, a new dazzling standard has been set up 
and the influence of His life has permeated all the thinking and judg- 
ments of the world. Millions of people have united their efforts, to all 
the longings of the past, in attaining this hope set before us. Henry 
Drummond, years ago, had this vision when he said, “The work of 
the ages had no apex. But the work begun by Nature is finished by 
the supernatural — as we are wont to call the higher natural. And 
as the veil is lifted by Christianity it strikes men dumb with wonder. 
For the goal of evolution is Jesus Christ. The Christian life is the only 
life that will ever be completed. Apart from Christ the life of man is a 
broken pillar, the race of Men an unfinished pyramid. One by one in 
the sight of Eternity all human ideals fall short, one by one before the 


226 


—ee 


OUR ONE WAY OF ESCAPE 227 


grave all human hopes dissolve.’ Shall all hopes go? No, as St. Paul 
says, “When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also 
appear with Him in glory.” 

Suppose we do not take this one way of escape! What is the 
penalty? The penalty of being thirsty with rivers of waters just 
beyond our reach! The penalty of the tread mill, ever climbing and 
never reaching the top! The mockery of all desire. There is no remorse 
like this; and it is the future of every one of us who has seen the perfect 
satisfaction of life and yet decides to look back and down into darkness. 

Why prolong the usefulness of a poor old body if the spirit within 
it is sick? The only hope for physical health, the only way to health 
is through a spirit which is throbbing with the life of Christ, and 
passes on its vitality to the body. It is as in the business world. A 
house in which some one lives is a better insurance risk than a house 
which is empty. The life of those within actually preserves the outer 
shell. 

Some who are reading this book are disappointed because no 
infallible rule for the cure of the body has been given. It never can 
be given sincerely by anyone. The greatest possibilities for health, 
however, result from the health of the mind and spirit. If the mind 
of Christ be in us, and the spirit of Christ be in us there is hope for 
life now and forevermore. Without this we do ourselves the greatest 
injustice; we struggle up to the last and fail to enter in. It will be 
our failure and not God’s. “It is not the will of your Father which is 
in heaven,” said Jesus, “that one of these little ones should perish.” 
(Matt. 18 : 14). 

Like the people in the time of Jesus, we, too, would like some sign 
from heaven which would help us to gain the height of our desire at a 
single bound. The real miracle is the miracle of a heart that fixes its 
eye upon God, and centers every part of its life in fazthful codperation 
with His purpose. To be able to do this in the teeth of moral gravita- 
tion is as much a miracle as the flower which unfolds, pure and white, 
from the black mire of the swamp. 

Some of us may assume an indifference to our own future and yet 
be unwilling to drag others down with us. There are always others to 
be considered. No one of us lives to himself. Our failure makes it 
harder for some one else. For their sakes if not for our own we dare 
not give up the struggle. Even the animals sacrifice themselves for 
their young. Surely we are not so absorbed in our egotism that we are 
deaf to the appeal of our friends who expect great things of us. We 
do not fight alone. Most of us are in communities where we are held in 


228 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES 


spite of ourselves. Society as a whole is interested in helping us work 
out our salvation. Schools, welfare organizations, hospitals, the spirit 
of reformers, the Church, most Governments are concerned for the 
victory of the individual. If any of us loses our chance it will be because 
we are beni on our own destruction. Is there any one of us so ungener- 
ous that he is unwilling to do “his bit” to roll the world onward into 
light? 

Come, labour on. 

Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear! 

No arm so weak but may do service here: 


By feeblest agents may our God fulfill 
His righteous will. Jane Borthwick 1859. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 


Thou therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in 
Christ Jesus. Suffer hardship'with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No 
soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may 
please him who enrolled him as a soldier. And if also a man contend in 
the games,'he is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully. The 
husbandman that laboureth must be the first to partake of the fruits. 
Consider what I say: for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all 
things. Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them in the 
sight of the Lord, that they strive not about words, to no profit, to the 
subverting of them that hear. Give diligence to present thyself approved 
unt»? God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright 


the word of truth. 
II Tim. 2: 1, 8, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15. 


The last counsels of a man facing death are likely to be the dominant 
ideal of his life. In a Roman prison St Paul, facing death, because of 
his faith, writes to his closest friend who is to take up his work. There 
is no flinching in his spirit. He is sure that Jesus Christ is worth all 
that it may cost. It is sure to be a struggle involving hardship and the 
courageous endurance of a soldier. There is something in us which 
thrives on difficulty. We prize that which has cost effort. The athletic 
trophy is worth winning merely because it is not easy to win. The 
distant view from the mountain peak is desirable because it is so 
difficult to attain. They who are unwilling to work soon lose the 
ability to win, — and they are not crowned! 

What we need to-day is to blaze new trails into the larger life of 
the spirit. We get so “entangled in the affairs of this life” that we are 
not free to achieve spiritual power. As someone puts it, “It is better 
to say, ‘This one thing I do’, than to say “These forty things I dabble 
in.’” If anyone suggests that this means a narrow, restricted experi- 


OUR ONE WAY OF ESCAPE 229 


ence, he is indeed mistaken. What the Christian needs is a purpose 
so simple and direct that all of life centers around it. Many of us have 
such purposes but they are not always large enough to include every- 
thing. St. Paul surely had such people in mind when he urged Timothy 
to charge his fellow workers, “that they strive not about words.” The 
cause of Christian service has been hindered mightily because we have 
talked more than we have prayed, and have been intent on details 
rather than on the spirit. 

The spirit which holds a straight course in spite of opposing forces, 
keeping its eye on Jesus, is bound to be crowned with immortality. 
Browning describes this victorious soul in his epilogue; 


“One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, 
Never doubted clouds would break, 
Never dreamed though right were worsted 
Wrong would triumph, 
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, 
Sleep to wake.” 


Such a man was St. Paul; and such must we be if we are to win heaven 
and eternal life. The conception of the Christian life as a glorified 
life insurance policy which will come due at death has no place in the 
thinking of the great apostle. He does not promise his successor any- 
thing less strenuous. If some of us were following in his footsteps we 
would not have time to think of ourselves. If St. Paul had thought of 
himself and not been willing to endure hardness, we should probably 
not be here in an enlightened age enjoying the fruits of Christian peace. 
There are limitless fields of thought to explore and new experiences 
into which we too must lead the way for others. The hope of the 
future is in our faithful following of the Christ to-day. Phillips Brooks 
sang of Him: 


“The hopes and fears of all the years 
Are met in Thee tonight.” 


The same might be said of us, — “And working together with Him, 
we intreat also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” (IJ 
Cor. 6 : 1). 


Now unto Him that is able to guard you from stumbling, 
and to set you before the presence of His glory without 
blemish in exceeding joy, to the only God our Saviour, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, 
dominion and power, before all time, and now, and 
forevermore. Amen. Jude 24. 


Firry-Seconp WEEK 
OUR CONFIDENT HOPE 


If a human being is the highest achievement of the organic king- 
dom, what of the future? To what goal does all this endless striving 
tend? This is the question which haunts us more and more the longer 
we live. We are born weak, and grow up to physical strength and then 
gradually lose those bodily powers which we attained. In the realm 
of the mind, the case is different. We begin as children with the whole 
world to discover. Gradually one experience after another makes us 
wiser until at the time when our body is weakening, our mind is at its 
highest point in knowledge and general equipment for life. Problems 
are easily solved; we see a thousand possible careers open to us, and 
are just ready for our best work. Our spirit, too, has been disciplined 
and trained for nobility of character, and our insight into the meaning 
of life is keener than ever. Can it be possible that death ends all? 

Sir Oliver Lodge writes, ‘‘I will not believe that it is given to man 
to have thoughts, nobler or loftier than the real truth of things.” In 
other words, he is sure that eternal life must be really true or we would 
not have such a persistent feeling for it and urge toward it in all our 
life. We have a sense of eternity about all our larger interests. Our 
educational systems cover far more than what is needed in order to 
supply our economic necessities. Whenever we build anything, we 
strive to give it lasting qualities. We yearn to write books that will 
live on for centuries. Even our business corporations assume financial 
indebtedness in bonds which mature long after all present directors 
will have finished their work on earth. Why would we have this 


persistent attitude toward the future if there were no future? Why. 


work so hard if there is no future growth possible? If we take life 
seriously and aim for permanence, why should we think of God as 
interested only in what is temporal? Is not His plan for our lives 
infinitely greater and more far-reaching than our pitifully small 
desires can be? Where did we get this sense of eternity, anyway, if 
not from the Father of our spirit? 

We have hope, too, because of the inherent greatness of our per- 
sonality. What is the use of developing a self-conscious spirit, capable 
of mighty prowess if we are to be mocked, at the moment of our 
greatness, by a disintegration of all that we have grown to be through 
the costly processes of the ages? Things must be different from what 
they seem to be. The disappearance of a train along the far stretch of 


230 — 


ee 


OUR CONFIDENT HOPE 231 


track does not mean that it is not somewhere else. The stars seem to 
disappear with the rising of the sun, but we know they are still in the 
heavens, out of sight. When a personality goes beyond our sight, why 
should it not be growing and working out its desires elsewhere? We 
have a strange way of inferring that in the realm of the future we can 
gain evidence only by some voice from the future. We do not reason 
this way about other things. We find a workable law here, and depend, 
in cold business sense, on its working in the future. 

We have had a Voice from the future. In powers and achievement, 
Jesus belongs to a realm infinitely superior to ours. He had much to 
tell us about the working of the law of eternal life. He made no attempt 
to project the material into the immaterial. He stated the law of life 
explicitly in these words, ‘Except a man be born of water and the 
spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born 
of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.” 
(John 3 : 5-6). While we may be the final word in the organic king- 
dom, we are babes in the spiritual kingdom, destined for a mighty 
future in the likeness of Christ. Henry Drummond, as a biologist, 
describes the process. ‘“‘Man, or the spiritual man, is equipped with 
two sets of correspondences. One set possesses the quality of ever- 
lastingness, the other is temporal. But unless these are separated by 
some means, the temporal will continue to impair and hinder the 
eternal. The final preparation, therefore, for the inheriting of Eternal 
Life must consist in the abandonment of the non-eternal elements. 
And this is effected by death. Death is the necessary result of imper- 
fection, and the necessary end of it. But it is the claim of Christianity 
that it ean abolish death. And it is significant to notice that it does 
so by meeting this very demand of science — it abolishes imperfection.” 

Our hope and confidence, then, must be placed in the reality of the 
life of the spirit. It involves our working out our salvation according 
to the principles of the spiritual life which we have been studying. 
Our spiritual growth must be won by us just as truly as our physical 
growth has been won by an observance of physical laws. Human wis- 
dom has been gained by concentrated effort, and heavenly wisdom will 
come in the same way through the Master Teacher, Jesus Christ. Just 
as the realm of humanity is higher than the animal, so the realm of the 
Christian life is higher than the human life. As Dean Bennett, of 
Chester Cathedral, writes, ‘‘Christianity just seems to me to be the 
last, the final stage, as far as this world is concerned, of the age-long 
process for the making of immortal out of immortable individuals — 
in other words, for the making of the sons of God. If any are to inherit 


232 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES 


eternal life, for it they must qualify themselves. God Himself cannot 
do for us what can only be done by us.” 

The birth of the Christ life within us is the work of God. As has 
been said many times in this book, it comes in reply to our prayer and 
our willingness to let “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” 
make us “free from the law of sin and of death.”’ This is the hope of 
the world; your hope and mine; our only hope, but an adequate hope, — 
as God Himself is adequate. 


For lo! the days are hastening on, 

By prophets seen of old, 

When with the ever-circling years, 

Shall come the time foretold, fi 

When the new heaven and earth shall own 

‘The Prince of Peace their King, 

And the whole world send back the song 

Which now the angels sing. E. H, Sears, 1846. 


FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT 
It is written, A! 

Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, 

And which entereth not into the heart of man, 

Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. 
But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth 
all things, yea, the deep things of God. For who among men knoweth 
the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even 
so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God. But we received 
not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is God; that we might 
know the things that are freely given to us by God. I Cor. 2 : 9-12. 


Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or 
anguish, or persecution, or famine, or {maakedness, or peril, or sword? 
Even as it is written, 

1 For thy sake we are killed all the day long; 

We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that 
loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, 
nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate 
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom. 8 : 35-39. 


« Even before Christ came what a quiet confidence has come down 
through the centuries concerning the wondrous purposes of God for 
those who love Him! It took a great faith in those days to be sure that 
God was far more loving than any heart had ever imagined Him to be. 
The conception is so beyond the usual thinking of humanity that it 
must have come to the prophet by inspired insight. 





OUR CONFIDENT HOPE 233 


It takes a human being to understand a human being. I understand 
human things because I have a human spirit within me. I am human 
and not God; so that in order to understand Him I must have the 
Spirit of God within me. This receiving of the Spirit of God is what 
Jesus meant by saying, ““Ye must be born anew” (John 3:7}. This 
relation is surely a guarantee of eternal life. Here is a relation of spirit 
with spirit which will never cease. It is a new power which brings us 
into direct connection with God and triumphs over death. It has 
survival power over all physical change. Our spirit has become 
vitalized with power and we see through the mists of earth, and begin 
to know, within us, the things of God. The assurance comes again 
through St. Paul in those words, ‘‘If the Spirit of Him that raised up 
Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, He that raised up Christ Jesus 
from the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies through His Spirit 
that dwelleth in you.” (Rom. 8 : 11). 

Note the list of all those things which threaten to separate us from 
our relation of love to Christ. They are all changes in physical environ- 
ment, — famine, anguish, sword, perils; these are the enemies of the 
body which cause us to disappear from our human incarnation. They 
seem to be able to defeat all our work and make existence impossible. 
It is, though, only seeming defeat for in all these things the spirit is 
untouched and is released for larger life. 

The victory of the spirit is even more complete. After being driven 
from the earth there are other forces with which it may have to reckon; 
death, powers, angels, height, depth, or some other condition. Even 
there the love of God will keep us in our union with Christ. Jesus said 
to His disciples, ‘‘All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and 
on earth,’ (Mati. 28 : 18) and the promise of His Presence was to 
extend to the end of the world. No loophole has been left for fear. 
The Christian faith is confident and serene before all facts of life and 
death. 

I know not what the future hath 
Of marvel or surprise, 

Assured alone that life and death 
His mercy underlies. 

I know not where His islands lift 
Their fronded palms in air; 


I only know I cannot drift 
Beyond His love and care. Whittier. 





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